Heirs of the Ancients: Search for Time
by LysaKate
Summary: 15 years after the Titan War, a new prophecy has come to our attention. It states that an heir of the ancients has the power to jeapordize the gods existence again. Just how ancient will this heir's parents be? What can they do? Full summary inside.
1. The New Girl

**Disclaimer: We/I/Us/Me... Never mind. We do not own Percy Jackson or any famous book that has been published so far. (That'd be cool if we did though)**

**Summary: 15 years after the Titan War, a new prophecy has come to our attention. It states that an heir of the ancients has the power to jeopardize the gods' existence, again. Just how ancient will this heir's parents be? What can they do? And what's up with the new girl at camp? What's with all these killings happening to half-bloods? I guess we'll only find out when the time comes. If we're still alive by then... **

**Story starts slow, but at least give it a chance.**

**Prologue:**

Kasey Marrlet had turned to go home, but she never arrived. Where she lies is where she waits. It was where it had killed her. She wasn't the first to fall, and she wouldn't be the last. The beast had claimed others, others just like Kasey. It had the necklaces to prove it. It wouldn't stop until it found the person it wanted.  
The creature stooped down over its lifeless victim. It seized something around the girl's neck and ripped it off. It was a leather necklace with two pendants on it: an intricate maze and a bow crossed with a sword. The monster sniffed at the necklace, catching Kasey's scent, and grunted in frustration. This wasn't the one it was looking for. The thing stormed away, leaving the girl's body for whoever found it.  
When the monster was gone, a girl scampered out from behind a wall and ran to Kasey's still form. She'd seen what had happened. She had proof now that the time was near. The girl muttered a few words over her friend's body, and then looked up. Any monster or person like her would have known her, and most would have been terrified. There was nobody like this girl, and everyone knew it. Her features distinguished her and made her known. Everyone knew her because of two things: she had hair as black as the night, eyes as gray as a storm. And when she set her mind to something, it always happened.

**Chapter 1: The New Girl**

For the longest time, I thought my life was as weird as it could get. I was dyslexic, had ADHD, and constantly felt watched. Then she showed up, and my whole world crashed. Maybe I should start at the beginning.  
My name is Krystol Lore. I'm 12 years old and used to attend Ellis Academy . School was alright, but I didn't have a lot of friends, I was an outcast. I had one friend, Julius Redwood. He had some weird disease that had messed up his legs. So, for the whole school year, I've been sticking up for him for him, which made me stick out. So, life was okay, a little odd, but not bad. Then she showed up, late May, two weeks left of school. That's when things changed, so I'll start there.

"Krys wait up!" someone yelled. I turned around to see my best friend, Julius, hobbling toward me. "Hey, how you doing?" he asked.

"Well," I said, "I'm still considered a freak, still an outcast, still feel watched, you know, the same old same old. What about you?"

"Same, I guess. But there's supposed to be a new kid coming today, at least that's what I heard."

"Yay, another kid that's gonna hate us."

"Oh come on, you never know."

All I could do was sigh. Every new kid who came through this school seemed to turn against me before I even met them. Heck, it started before I even saw them! Well, I thought, maybe things will be different. And maybe pigs fly! All I could do was trudge off to class as the bell rang.

"Good morning class," my teacher called.

"Good morning Ms. Blane," everyone said. Ms. Blane was our social studies teacher. She was okay, especially compared to Ms. Slith, our English teacher. I used to joke around with Julius that she was evil, but he always agreed with me in a dead serious tone, so I eventually stopped.

"Class," said Ms. Blane, "we have a new student today. Her name is Brooklyn Carver. Brooklyn, would you come in, please?"

I looked up as a girl walked into class and almost gasped out loud. She was like nothing I'd ever seen. The girl was in perfect shape with toned muscles and a good tan. What really shocked me were her hair and her eyes. They seemed perfect together, but, at the same time, like they shouldn't have existed as one. Her hair was jet black, as dark as the midnight sky, and tumbled down her shoulders. Her eyes were as gray as a storm cloud. They were calm and made her look like she knew everything, but at the same time, they were intimidating, daring you to say one thing to her. She seemed different though, but I didn't know how.

"Krystol. Krystol," I heard, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Huh?" I said, probably sounding like a moron.

"Krystol, I need you to show Miss Carver here around the school. Do you think you can handle that?" Ms. Blane asked.

"Sure, I guess."

"Thank you." Then Ms. Blane just walked away, leaving me with Miss New Girl.

"Um, why don't you sit down Brooklyn," I told her. Without saying a word, she sat down next to me. I couldn't help but notice that she moved her chair about an inch away from me. Great, I thought, I've known her for five seconds and she's already trying to get away. Life's just great, isn't it?

Class went on after that. Thankfully, today's lesson wasn't too boring. We were studying ancient Greece, which I really liked for some reason. Apparently, so did Brooklyn . She managed to answer every question about Greece correctly. I still couldn't get her to talk to me though. Well, you can't win everything, right?

Finally, lunch managed to roll around. I was sitting with Julius, talking about nothing important when I brought up the new girl.

"So there is a new kid at school?" Julius asked. For some reason, he had a weird expression on his face, almost like concern or fear.

"Yeah, her name's Brooklyn Carver," I told him.

" Brooklyn ?"

"Yes Julius, did you not hear me the first time?"

"What's she like?"

"Don't know. She doesn't talk much, at least not to me. Actually, she moved her chair away from me a little when she sat down. But I do know one thing, she loves ancient Greece."

"Is she nice?"

"I can't say. She didn't say much, except for when she was answering questions."

"What'd she look like?"

"Well, aren't you inquisitive today," I teased.

"Krys, I just-"

"I'm teasing! Sheesh, you think you'd be able to tell when I'm joking by now."

"I know," he mumbled. "So, what'd she look like?"

"Really?" He just nodded. "Fine, I'll tell you Mr. Questions." I took a breath, trying to figure out how I would describe her. "Well, to be honest, she's hard to describe. I mean, I could tell you what she looks like, but-"

"Krys?" Julius interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Just tell me what she looks up as best as you can."

"Right, sorry. Okay, here goes. She is amazingly fit, like perfectly toned muscles, California tan, all of it. Her hair goes down past her shoulders and it's jet black. And her eyes, wow! They're gray, exactly like a storm cloud. They make her look super calm and super smart. But they're kind of intimidating. Does that answer your question?"

Julius didn't answer. He just sat there, mouth gaping, eyes wide, just staring at me.

"Julius, ya still there?" Nothing. "Hello, anybody in that head?" Still nothing. "Hey! Earth to Julius, we have lost communication. Please respond." And again, nothing. "Wow, you are in some serious shock, man."

"Huh?" He shook his head, coming back to his senses.

"You like, dazed out or something. Are you alright?" I asked.

"He looks okay to me," someone said. At that, Julius's head snapped up. I jumped a little and spun around in my seat. And there she was, the new girl. And she was actually giggling. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you guys."

"You didn't scare us, just surprised us," Julius said.

"Yeah, I'll believe that," she retorted, but she had just a hint of playfulness in her voice. "Well, I just came over to ask if I could sit with you. Everywhere else is full. Is that okay Krystol?" she asked me. Weirdly, I thought I'd seen just a touch of longing in her eyes.

"Sure, go ahead," I said. Again, she sat down quickly without a word. She looked like she would scoot away again, but decided not to.

"So, I was telling dorko over there about you. I hope you don't mind," I told Brooklyn.

"Nah, that's cool. Hey Julius," she said. Does she know him? Well, maybe she just overheard me say his name. I mean, what are the chances?

"Hey Brooke," Julius said. Wait, does he know her? And I thought…..

"Wait, I thought your name was Brooklyn," I told her.

"It is," Brooklyn told me, obviously not paying attention.

"But Julius just called you Brooke," I said, totally confused.

That got both of their attentions. Their heads snapped up at the same time, both of them just staring at each other.

"Oh, um, well I uh, did I?" Julius sputtered. I just nodded. "Well, actually, I, um, went to this camp last summer. I made a new friend and her name was Brooke," he told me, then turned to Brooklyn . "I guess you just reminded me of her."

I looked to Brooklyn as she said "I get that a lot." Then, she just went right back to her food like it never happened, and Julius followed suit. I thought I saw faint smiles playing at their lips, but I just told myself it was nothing. But I couldn't believe it. I know that Julius is the worst liar ever. I also knew that Brooklyn was different somehow. And the way those two seemed to know each other… Something was going on. I felt like I needed to know what it was, what was happening. I was determined to figure it all out. Looking back on it, I wish I hadn't.

**Okay, so there's the first chapter. Sorry if the one word answers or using words like "gonna" bugs you, but I'm trying to sound as much like a kid would while still being grammatically correct. Well…. There's not much else I need/want to say, so… See ya, I guess. Oh, one last thing, if you could, please try to use as little cussing in the reviews as possible. Thanks. This story was first uploaded by SAKU4life and if you read the first authors note on hers (It's not there now) you would've known that she was uploading it for a friend. Well I am that friend and I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave any comments about me copying it because I didn't. The story is just moving authors from her to me. Again thanks and bye!**


	2. My Friends Behind My Back

**Disclaimer: We still do not own any famous book that has been published, which includes Percy Jackson.**

**Chapter 2: My Friends behind My Back**

Have you ever felt like your only two friends in the whole world were sharing a secret and wouldn't let you in on it? Well, that's how I felt. Brooklyn had been here for three days, but it was like she and Julius had known each other for years. Well, at least they hadn't made me into an outcast.

And, thanks to Julius helping, I finally got Brooklyn to talk to me. Now it's time to find out a little about her.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" I asked, sitting down at our lunch table.

"Hey Krys," Brooklyn said. "Nothing much, I'm just listening to blabbermouth Julius going on about petitioning that we should have a meal between each class."

"Oh come on!" Julius protested. "You have to admit, it wouldn't be a bad idea. I mean, at least we wouldn't be starving halfway through the day, right?"

"Julius?"

"Yeah Brooklyn?"

"You're a dork."

"I know Brooklyn. You and Krystol have told me that dozens of times.

"More like hundreds," she snickered.

"Hey, um, Brooklyn?" I asked.

"Yeah Krys?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about yourself. I mean, just to get to know you." As soon as I said that, I wished I could've taken it back. I could've sworn I saw her eyes cloud over with mistrust as they flicked over to Julius. He gave an imperceptible nod so quick, I thought I'd imagined it. But then Brooklyn's eyes went back to their normal and calm state.

"Sure Krys. Shoot. What do you want to know?" she said

"Oh, well I uh," I stammered. "Um, well, let's see-"

"What do you say that I tell you about myself, and then you ask questions, okay?" she cut in. I nodded to her, thankful that she saved me from stuttering myself into embarrassment. "Okay then, where do I start? I was born and raised in New York City, just two blocks from the Empire State Building. I've been kicked out of every school I've ever gone to, but so have most of my friends. Then again, I don't have a lot of friends."

"You live two blocks from the Empire State Building? That must be insanely crowded."

It is, but it's easier for my parents," Brooklyn said offhandedly. I saw Julius flinch when she said that.

"Um, why exactly is it easier for your parents to live so close to the Empire State Building?"

"Oh, well, my mom's an architect and the place she works at is in the same area. That and my dad is a marine biologist, so we like being by the water, too," she said. It was as simple as that. Then why did Julius flinch?

"Dang, your parents sound pretty cool."

"They're okay."

"So, how did you end up in this prison?"

For a second, she looked a little surprised. "Oh, well-." Then the bell rang.

"Hello class," hissed Ms. Slith. Nobody said anything. Unless Ms. Slith said something to you, you were silent. She scared people so much; I'd heard she had given some kids nightmares. It was no wonder why, either. Her teeth were like fangs, all of them. What could only be her smile was like venom. Some kids even said she had a forked tongue. The worst part was her eyes. They were scaly green; her pupils were slits. To sum her up, she looked like she would tear your throat out at any second. Somehow, it was the only class I didn't have with Julius or Brooklyn. Joy!

"Class, you're going to write an essay using the persuasive techniques you learned. It is due at the end of the hour; no exceptions. Do you understand?" barked Ms. Slith. Not waiting for an answer, she turned around and left us to work.

The bell finally rang, ending the school day. I put my essay on her desk like everyone else and turned to leave. I was one step from the sanctity of the hall, then, "Krystol, come here," barked Ms. Slith. Crap! I thought. Why now, why here, and why her? I took a breath, turned around, and walked back.

"Yes Ms. Slith?" I said.

"What is this?" she hissed, pointing at my three-sentence essay.

"Um, it's my essay," I mumbled.

"Really? Well, I've seen some ugly things in my life, but I think your essay has managed to out do it all. I said there was no excuse for not getting it done. You have detention Miss Lore," she said, almost a little happily.

"But it's Friday!" I protested. "The school doesn't allow Friday detention."

"Then you will serve it Wednesday. I don't care if it is the second to last day of school, you will serve it, understand?" growled Ms. Slith. All I did was nod. "Good, now leave." Finally, I thought.

I walked down the bare hall to where I always met Julius and Brooklyn. I was about to turn the corner to meet up with them, but then I heard a voice like Brooklyn's coming from there, and she did not sound happy. I scooted a little closer to the corner to hear what she was saying.

"-don't trust her, Julius. Have you seen the way she looks at the students here? We can't afford to take any chances. We have to act now," she was saying.

"I know, Brooke. Honestly, I trust her about as much as I trust a Kindly One. But what if trying to act now just puts us in danger? We can't risk that. What would Chiron say, and your parents?" Julius said.

Now I was lost. Who didn't they trust? Was it me? And what the heck was a Kindly One?

"Fine, only because it makes sense. And just to let you know, Chiron, mom, and dad would agree with me if I got us to camp safely," Brooklyn said in a defeated but defiant voice.

"Whatever, let's just go figure out where Krystol is," Julius told her, obviously somewhat annoyed.

Uh-oh, I thought. Okay, act natural. Pretend you didn't hear a single thing they said. You know nothing. Remember, ignorance is bliss. I took a breath and rounded the corner like nothing had happened.

And ran smack dab into Brooklyn. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, holding my stomach, Brooklyn standing over me in a defensive stance. Julius just stood there, wide eyed and mouth gaping, like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Krystol! I didn't mean to kick you, but you snuck up on me. Are you alright?" Brooklyn rambled.

"Oh yeah, wonderful," I groaned sarcastically. I caught Julius trying not to laugh at us. Oh, he is so in for it, I thought. I was about to tell him to shut up when Brooklyn saw him.

"Oh, put an enchilada in it, Julius," she snapped. She certainly is helpful at times. "Come on, why you need to get off the floor," she said, pulling me to my feet.

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem."

"Excuse me for a second," I told Brooklyn, smiling sweetly. Then, I stalked over to Julius and slammed my foot into his shin.

"Ow! Krys, what was that for?" he shrieked, hopping around and holding his leg.

"Because I felt like it," I said smugly.

"Besides, you know you deserved it," Brooklyn chimed in.

"I hope you two know that you are such jerks" Julius snapped.

"Yes, I do, thank you," I smiled.

"Hey guys, can we get out of here yet?" interrupted Brooklyn. "We've already missed the buses and my parents like knowing where I'm at. In other words, let's move." Then she strode off down the hall, leaving us to catch up.

"Well, I should be going guys," I told Julius and Brooklyn as we walked out of the empty school.

"Uh, no. You aren't going anywhere, missy," Brooklyn stated. "You are coming with us to Central Park. You got to ask me questions, now it's my turn. So, here's a quarter. There's a phone booth,' she said, handing me a coin and pointing to a phone. "Go call one of your parents."

She didn't even give me a chance to say anything before pushing me off. I guess she did deserve to know about me after I asked all about her though, I thought. But what if my mom wouldn't let me go? Then again, I'll be with Julius, so she shouldn't mind.

Then I was at the phone booth. I walked inside, closing the door behind me. I slid the coin in, picked up the phone, dialed, and waited. Two rings later, I heard, "Hello?"

"Hey mom," I said.

"Oh, hi Krystol. Um, sweetie, whose phone are you using?" she asked, sounding a little scared. I didn't know why she was so afraid of me using phones. Mom didn't like it when I used somebody else's cell phone, or even the house phone for that matter.

"I'm using the pay phone outside of school. One of my friends gave me a quarter to use."

"Oh, okay," my mom sighed, sounding relieved. "So, why did you call angel?"

"Well, Julius and Brooklyn, my new friend, want me to go to Central Park with them. They just want to hang out for a few hours, that's all."

"Well… Okay, Krystol, you can go. When will you be home?"

"Um, is five-thirty okay?"

"Yes, that should work."

"Okay, see you at five-thirty then."

"Okay. Be careful, Krystol. You know how New York City has some…different _things _in it."

"Yes mom, I am well aware of the point that New York has some weird people in it. I promise that I will stay with my friends and keep away from any of the lunatics out there."

"Okay sweetheart," she laughed. "I'll see you later. I love you."

"Love you too, mom." Hanging up the phone, I sighed. Mothers, I thought. They are so overprotective. Walking out of the booth, I found Julius and Brooklyn talking alone again.

"-told them?" Julius was asking.

"Yes, I talked to them," Brooklyn said, sounding really annoyed.

"Did you tell all three of them? You know they'll want to know where we are."

"Yes Julius! I told all three of them!" she snapped. "You may be the one who needs to keep watch, but I can take care of myself. Let's not forget, I've been doing this for three years now."

"I know. I'm just trying to do my job. Besides, you know how I am about your safety. Let's not forget what happened those three years ago," Julius retorted, anger and frustration layered thick in his voice. His face softened, though, as Brooklyn dropped her gaze. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up." She didn't answer.

Trying to break the tension between them, I spoke up, acting like I'd just come back. "Hey guys. I called my mom and she's letting me go with you. I just have to be back home by five-thirty."

"Awesome. Come on, let's hit the subway before the train takes off," Brooklyn said, going back to her usual self.

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting on a bench, Central Park splayed out all around us.

"So, what do you want to know about me?" I asked Brooklyn .

"What do you say we do this, I ask a question, then you can ask me? Does that sound fair?" she told me. I nodded to her letting her take the first question. "Okay, first off, where the heck do you get your looks?"

Well, I thought, that's a new question. Most people didn't ask me about my looks because they were so odd. My face was a lot like my mom's, but my hair and eyes weren't. She had dark brown hair, but mine were as black as Brooklyn 's. Mom's eyes were aqua, like the ocean at midday. My eyes couldn't be more different. They were extremely dark. I mean, beyond dark brown. Most people would say that they are really black, but I was always told that my eye color should have been impossible. They were still even weirder. Whenever I looked in a mirror, I could swear that I saw purple glints in the black. The oddest thing, one thing I could never explain, was the gold that ringed my iris and pupil.

"Krys? Hello, is anyone in there?" Brooklyn played, tapping her knuckles against my head.

"Hey! You better watch it, Carver," I joked.

"Bring it on, Lore," she teased. I just laughed.

"Okay, so my looks, right. Well, I get my facial features from my mom. My hair and my eyes, and I've never seen him so I can't prove it, but I get them from my dad."

"Cool. You know, I've seen some really awesome eyes, but none like yours," Brooklyn said. "Oh, it's your turn now."

"Okay, same question."

"Alright, I get the hair from mom and the eyes from dad." Dang, why is everything she says about herself so simple? "My turn again. What are your parents' names?" I must have given her an odd look because she added quickly, "If I wanted to use a phone book or something to call you."

"Oh, my mom is Katrina Lore. I don't have a dad. Same question for you."

"Um, we actually don't have a house phone. But their names are Silena and Connor. Now, what question can I ask you? Well, I can't actually think of one so you can go."

"Um, okay. Well, let's see. Okay, since I can't think of an actual question, what's your favorite color and why?"

"Oh, so now you're looking for more details," Brooklyn teased. "Well, I actually have two favorite colors: green and gray. I like green because, in my mind, it stands for calmness, independence, excitement, and it reminds me of the sea. I like gray for calmness, neutrality, intimidation, peacefulness, plainness, and, because of all of the things I said, it reminds me that my life is still somewhat normal."

What, I thought. Oh well, I won't bother her about it. After all, my life is pretty weird.

"So, have you always been in New York City? You seem to know where everything is," Brooklyn said.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that for some reason, too," Julius chimed in.

"Oh wow. Sheesh, Julius, you were so quiet, I actually forgot you were there," I joked. "You aren't usually this quiet. I'm surprised you haven't asked anything."

"Yeah, why aren't you talking?" Brooklyn asked, a slight edge mixed into her voice.

"Well, I'm just not very curious," He told her, meeting her stare.

"Uh, yeah, we'll believe that" I said. "Well, for as long as I can remember, I've lived in New York. I did ask my mom about that once, though; she said that we were in Las Vegas for about a year after I was born, then moved out to here." But, I thought, my birth certificate says New York City. "So, are you into any sports?" I asked Brooklyn.

"Yeah, I'm into running, most water sports, and volleyball," she said. "I guess you could say that I'm good at fencing. I also like playing a game called capture the flag." I felt Julius tense up beside me again.

"You mean that game where you run around with those little flags on your waist, trying to get the ball to your side of the field?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Cool! Man, I would love to learn how to fence." Brooklyn smiled as Julius laughed nervously.

"Okay, my turn again," Brooklyn said. "Okay, um, this might be a personal and weird question to you, but how did you end up in Torture Academy?"

"Well, there are a few things that I can think of that could've gotten me in there. One, it's not as expensive as other schools, so mom can afford it. Two, it's close to home. Three, it's one of the few schools in the area that we can afford that try to help kids like me."

"Kids like you?"

"Yeah, those of us with, as the doctors call them, learning disabilities. Sadly, according to the stupid doctors, I've got one of the worst combinations: ADHD mixed with the wonderful dyslexia," I said sourly. "To be honest, I don't even remember what ADHD stands for half of the time."

"Attention deficit hyperactive disorder," Brooklyn said quickly.

"How do you know?"

"I've got it, too, and dyslexia," she sighed. She looked at me with those knowing gray eyes, and I saw something in them that I couldn't name. "How do you think you I ended up at Ellis?" she asked gently.

I was trying to think of something to say to her when I heard a truck honk, bringing all of our heads up. There, at the edge of the park, was a red Chevy Tahoe. The backseat door opened as a boy hopped out and ran toward us.

The kid couldn't have been more than ten or eleven years old. His hair was the color of dark, rich honey without any added sugar or anything else. His eyes were that of the ocean green, but filled with the wildness of a hurricane. He was tanned and toned, just like Brooklyn. He skidded to a halt in front of us.

"Hey, twerp, what do you want?" Brooklyn played.

"My own car, but we know that's not going to happen anytime soon. Mom says it's time to go," he joked with her.

"Okay." She picked up her bag, told Julius and I goodbye, and then raced off toward the truck with the boy.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Brooklyn has a brother, or even a cousin," Julius said. But he'd hesitated before saying anything. Again, Julius is a horrible liar.

"Well, I should be heading home," I told him, noticing that it was now five o'clock.

"Oh, okay. Can I come with you on the subway? I mean, I get off two stops after you, so I figured I could hang out with you for a little bit longer," he rambled.

"Sure, why not?" I told him.

A half hour later, I was home. I ate dinner, attempted to finish my homework, and got ready for bed. Before I fell asleep, I wondered about what had happened lately. What was going on? Why did it seem like my friends were somehow lying to me? Who were my friends?

**A/N: Sorry that this is taking forever to post, but I've been really busy with school and my brother's football games and so on. I promise it will pick up soon, hopefully in the next chapter. Until then, I hope you enjoy this. If not, oh well. R&R please. Oh, and about the Tahoe, that was just a random truck that hit my mind.**


	3. The Secrets Spill, Sort Of

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

**Chapter 3: The Secrets Spill, Sort Of**

As it turned out, Brooklyn never did call. She didn't lie about not having a house phone, though. Actually, none of her family's names were in the phone book. That made my weekend even worse.

I had absolutely no fun. I didn't have any friends to hang out with. I couldn't even talk to my mom because she had to work all weekend. Worst of all, I had that feeling again. It was the feeling that something wasn't right. I tried to block it out, but I couldn't.  
Especially with the other feeling I had. I was being watched. I was sure of it. Every time I walked outside of the apartment building, I felt like something was stalking me, just waiting for a chance to get me. As a result, I wasn't a happy student come Monday.

I stalked into the schoolyard, already wanting the day to end. Finally, after ten minutes, I found Brooklyn standing by a bench with a taller woman. It took me a second to realize that it was Ms. Slith. But it couldn't be, Brooklyn hated Ms. Slith. What was she doing talking to her? Of course, being so curious lately, I snuck up to a tree behind them. Boy, I'm getting good at this sneaking stuff_, _I thought. Shaking my head to clear my mind, I tried to catch what they were saying.

"-better stay out of my way, girl," Ms. Slith growled.

"Why? What have I done?" Brooklyn said sounding completely lost.

"You know exactly what you've done. Unless you want to face the consequences, you and your little friend need to stay away from her."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do," Slith hissed. "You and I both know what she is. And don't think that I don't know about you. I know exactly what you are, brat. I can smell it."

"Then tell me what I am," Brooklyn whispered, her voice soft but threatening.

"You're a half-blood."

"So, you finally figured it out. Good job, it certainly took you long enough."

"Watch your mouth, demigod. You obviously know what I am and what I can do."

"Yes, I'm aware of it all. But, the question is: do you know who I am? You may know _what _I am, but that doesn't mean you know _who_ I am. And that, as you know, can make all the difference."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Brooklyn was a half-blood (whatever that was). Slith was something else and Brooklyn knew what. Oddly, I was most shocked by that girl's guts. I didn't think that anybody would have stood up to Slith, but Brooklyn was standing there and actually threatening her!

"I don't need to know you to get rid of you!" Slith barked.

Brooklyn just gave her a small, soft sigh. "If you are wise, you will stay away from us," she gently stated.

"Hey, Brooklyn," someone called. I looked past Ms. Slith and Brooklyn to see Julius running toward them. He looked extremely nervous and scared, as if he'd just seen a ghost. He pulled up short, just a few feet from the other two. "Is everything okay here?"

"It's fine. I was just going to find you. Come on, let's go," Brooklyn said, still staring at Slith.

"I'm warning both of you," Slith growled, "stay out of my way and leave my prey be." She stormed off toward her room, leaving a pale Julius and a seriously ticked Brooklyn. Then the bell rang.

For the rest of the day, I avoided my friends. I don't know why, I just did. I just really needed a dose of normal reality. I didn't even talk much at home with mom. There was just too much going through my head. I just really needed a break. At least school was almost over.

Tuesday ended up like Monday. I was bored, at the end of my rope, and just wanted school to be over with. I kept avoiding my friends for reasons that I still didn't understand. But I definitely saw more of them. It seemed like every time I turned a corner, they were there. They never said much, but I could tell they were watching. But why? Finally, my day of horrid detention came around. From the second I woke up, I knew it was going to be a bad day; a really bad day.

I walked on to the campus, an eerie feeling all around me. I was about to turn around and get out of there when something slammed into me. Letting out a small scream, I spun around with flailing arms.

"Krystol! Krystol, chill out before you kill somebody! It's just me!" a girl shouted. I stopped swinging when I realized it was just Brooklyn.

"Oh, sorry. I don't do too well when people sneak up on me," I apologized.

"Don't worry about it, I usually don't, where have you been lately? I've hardly seen you since Friday. Well, except for in the halls and all, but... Krystol, is something wrong?" she asked. And there was her weird look again, the one that I couldn't decide what it was.

"Well, no, not really." Brooklyn just kept looking at me, her gray eyes piercing my mind and dragging out the truth. "Okay, fine. Yes, something is going on. I... I've been avoiding you guys lately."

"What?" I heard from behind me. I whirled around to find a shocked Julius staring at me. "You've been _trying_ to stay away from us?"

"Well-" I started.

"Why?" he interrupted.

"Yeah. What did we do?" Brooklyn demanded.

"You guys have been things from me!" I blurted. Julius looked as if I had just slapped him across the face, but Brooklyn managed to hold her blank stare.

"What are you talking about?" she asked me.

"Look, I'll talk to you guys at lunch," I sighed. I knew that Brooklyn knew exactly what I was talking about, but I just didn't want to deal with her lies right now.

"Why not now?"

"We don't have enough time," I snapped.

"How do know? It's not like any of us has a watch or something," she jeered, her voice mixed with anger, surprise, and what sounded like confusion.

Glaring at both of them, I started to count, "Three, two, one." The second I said one, the bell rang. I whirled around and quickly walked off without even glancing at my friends. I probably seemed like a total jerk, but that was just too weird. Then again, everything was weird lately.

Brooklyn was silent throughout first hour. She only spoke when Ms. Blane asked her a question. My second hour math class with Julius was just as quiet. He wouldn't even help me solve some problems when I asked. Instead of helping me with them and making me work, he just showed me his answers. Third period was absolute misery. Let's just say that a science experiment involving chemicals with two silent partners is not fun. Especially if you can barely read the instructions and chemical labels. I didn't even know that sixth graders were allowed to use chemicals! But, to be honest, I think I would've taken the silence over lunch.

I tried scarfing my food down before Brooklyn and Julius showed up so I could try to get away. It didn't work too well. Let's just say that rushing through peanut butter and Dr. Pepper at the same time does not have a happy ending.

Brooklyn and Julius sat down with their food just as I finished gagging. So much for me escaping. Both of them ate without saying a word. After waiting for what seemed like forever for them to talk, I finally spoke up.

"So, do either of you have anything to say?" I asked expectantly, ready to explode from all of the secrets.

"About what?" Brooklyn asked. I would've screamed at her for that if it weren't for her voice. She didn't sound confused, lost, or surprised. Instead, she sounded like she was waiting, like she was expecting _me _to say something.

"About you two hiding things from me."

"Um, Krys," Julius broke in, "what do you mean? Why do you think we're hiding something? I mean, have we lied to you at all this-"

"Julius," Brooklyn cut in. Her voice was calm and gentle, her face steady, her eyes clear and knowing. "Ta paichnídia échoun teleió̱sei. Den boroúme na ypokrinómaste pia." My jaw dropped in shock. She could speak another language?  
Julius glanced at me, then turned back to Brooklyn. "Giatí?" he seemed to ask.  
"Eínai archízoun na katalavaínoun."

"Pó̱s to xéreis?"

"How do you know we're hiding things?" Brooklyn asked, turning her attention back to me.

"Wait, are you admitting hiding stuff from me?" I asked, shocked that she was letting on to anything and still trying to take in the point that both of them could speak whatever language that was.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Now, can you please answer me?" Brooklyn asked with her expectant voice again.

"Well, before I turn around corners, when I walk out of telephone booths, and when I stand behind trees while you have a little chat with the demon teacher I usually hear a few weird things," I told her, ending sarcastically.

"What did you hear?" Her voice was still calm, her face was still set. Julius, on the other hand, looked like his whole world was falling apart.

"Oh, nothing much. Something about not trusting somebody, taking action, talking to your parents a lot, Chiron, and a Kindly One. Oh, and I heard something about what happened three years ago. Now start explaining, _Brooke._" Her set face dropped instantly. She looked like I had just dropped a bomb on her. At this point, Julius was so pale, it looked like winter had hit him early.

"H-how do you know all of that?" Julius stuttered.

"Like I said, I've heard you guys talking. Now one of you needs to start explaining."

"I didn't want you to find out like this," Brooklyn whispered. "This isn't right." She looked up at me, and I saw her as I never thought I would in a million years. Her expression had changed to that of true sadness, her eyes misty and unfocused, like she was being forced to remember the most horrible moment in her life. "I'm sorry, Krystol."

"Hey, it's okay. Nobody wanted it to be like this," Julius said, trying to calm Brooklyn down.

"Guys, what are you talking about?" I asked gently.

Brooklyn sighed, wiped her eyes, and looked up at Julius. "We don't have a choice, Julius. We have to tell her." With a nod from Julius, she turned back to me and started, "I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but I can't tell you anything yet. It's not safe for anyone if we talk about it here." I must not have had a happy face because she added, "I promise, Krys, I'll tell you everything, but you have to listen, it's too dangerous right now. If you can just wait a little longer, I swear that Julius and I will explain everything you've heard."

I had to think about this one. Here were my friends, just opening up and offering to tell me what was going on. On the other hand, telling me could put other people in danger. What was so dangerous about all of this? And if talking about this could really put so many people in danger, did I really want to know it? Of course I do! I thought. I'm the idiot who hates not knowing!

"Fine," I sighed. "I guess I can wait."

"Oh thank you so much, Krys!" Brooklyn said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"No, really. I mean, most kids involved with this are so impatient when they're finding out."

"Well, I'm usually one of those kids. So, when are we going to talk?"

"Right after school. We can go back down to Central Park for a while and talk. But, if we tell you, then we have to come home with you so we can talk to your mom. And there are no choices with that. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, that should be-" I cut off as I remembered my detention. "Oh man, I just remembered something. Guys, I can't go with you."

"What?"

"Yeah, I, um, I have detention today."

"Great, what did you do this time?" Julius asked sarcastically.

"I didn't finish my essay."

"Wait, one of Slith's essays?" Brooklyn asked.

"Yeah. She decided that that earned me a detention." Julius and Brooklyn instantly froze, their eyes wide and mouths gaping. "Guys, are you o-"

"Don't go," Brooklyn whispered.

"What?"

"Don't go," Julius repeated.

"Why?"

"Please, Krys. You have to listen to us. Don't go to that detention. Don't even think about going."

"Why?"

"It's part of those secrets we're going to tell you about. But we've already said this, we can't tell you yet."

"Guys, I have to go. We're supposed to do what teachers tell us."

"Since when do you listen to the teachers? Especially Slith?"

"Look, Julius, I-"

"Krystol Lore, listen to me," Brooklyn interrupted. I was shocked. I'd never heard or seen her like this. Her eyes had changed to an extremely dark gray, green tints flashing in and out. They were narrow and almost terrifying. Her expression was of demand, like she was ordering me to do something and expected it to get done. Her voice dripped with command, like that of someone who was in charge and knew what they were doing. I could almost feel something like power radiating off of her. "Don't go to that detention. I don't care what you do to get out of it, but figure something out. Ditch school if you can, leave early, or just skip that class. It doesn't matter what you do, just do something. I don't want you anywhere near that class or that monster. Do you understand me?"

"Okay, first off, I have never ditched school in my life and don't intend to start now. Second, when did you gain the right to order me around? Last time I checked, I was in charge of myself and could make my own decisions."

"Krystol-"

"No, I'm not ditching." I stood up and grabbed my bag. "Guys, I'll talk to you later, okay? And if you're wondering why we can't talk now again, it's because the bell is about to ring." And, once again, the bell rang right on cue.

I spent the next hour in P.E. listening to Brooklyn as she tried to get me to ditch school. What had gotten into her? She had never struck me as the type of person to even think of ditching, let alone suggest it to a friend. Then why was she? She and Julius were connecting it to those secrets though. So, did I need to listen to them then? No, I thought. Ditching is not right. Mom has always told me to do what's right, no matter how much you hate it or how much it hurts. She told me to only turn against that if somebody's life was at stake (which I still don't get). Then why were all of my nerves screaming to listen to those two?

Sixth period rolled around, much to my dread. But when I walked in, Slith wasn't there. Was I lucky today?

"Sit down, class," I heard from behind me. Dang, I thought. So close. "Krystol, I said sit. Now," Slith growled. I played it safe and just sat without a word. Then I noticed the dog.

To be honest, I was pretty scared of that dog. I know, that's pretty pathetic. It's even more so when the dog is a Chihuahua. But, and I am dead serious, there was no way this was a normal dog; unless, of course, dogs had recently been mutated and now had razor sharp teeth and malicious eyes that looked ready to rip your head off. It was like a normal dog and Slith had done an experiment and that _thing _was the result. And since it had decided to stare at me, I had every right to be scared.

"Um, Ms. Slith, are dogs allowed-" I started.

"Quiet! I don't want to hear a single noise from any of you. If I do, then believe me, you will wish you had never been born."

"Hey, you can't threaten us like that. And all I asked was if your dog-"

"Silence! I've heard enough out of your mouth. You have detention Ms. Lore."

"I already have detention for you!"

"Quite!" she screeched. I looked around, noticing that Slith's dog was growling and barking at me while all of the kids were wide-eyed, silent, and terrified. "Start reading, now," Slith growled at us. Glaring at her and her maniacal dog, I took out my book and attempted to read.

About five minutes before the final bell, I finally looked up. Slith's dog was still glaring at me, but Slith was on the phone. That was strange. Usually, she was looking at kids like they were lunch or glaring at me with murderous eyes.

"-all, sir. Thank you, Principal Marks," she was saying. Hanging up the phone, she looked at me. A small, evil grin spread across Slith's face as her eyes lit up with triumph. Great, I thought. She's smiling. Then the intercom came on.

"Julius Redwood and Brooklyn Carver, please report to the principal's office."

Ms. Slith let out a small laugh at that. Now I was seriously scared. Brooklyn and Julius were going to the office, and I had detention with Queen Murder and her maniacal dog. Could I try to get out of class now? Probably not. Maybe I could slip out with the crowd at the bell. Then it rang.

Everybody jumped up, grabbed their bags, and bolted for the door. I was two steps from freedom when Slith grabbed my backpack and yanked me back. She slammed the door closed and locked it. Then she wheeled on me.

"Sit down, brat!" she yelled, pointing toward the desks.

"No!" I hollered.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no! You don't order me around, got it? And since when were you allowed to just throw kids around and threaten us? Isn't that illegal or something?"

"Quiet!"

"No! I'm not some little pet of yours that you can treat anyway you like. I'm a human being here, lady! So why don't you listen to what my half-blood friend told you and back off!" I immediately wished I hadn't said that.

**AN: Okay, again, sorry it took forever to post. I'm a very busy child with school and cheer (no that does not make me some horrible, evil demon who is bent on destroying everybody that I don't like and doing whatever it takes to help myself. I'm actually quite nice). Anyway, sorry it didn't pick up. I was planning on it, but decided to divide my two chapter ideas, so I guess you'll have to wait 'til next chapter. Thanks to anybody willing to read this crappy first-time story and to those who review. Well, that's about it so see ya. This story will also be moved to the original authoress.**

**P.S.: I forgot, if anyone finds my characters mary-sueish or gary-stuish, please, feel free to tell me. If you do though, please give me suggestions to fix them. Thanks.**

**Oh, and once again, if you really don't like it, STOP READING IT!**


	4. My Teacher's Pet Torches My School

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

**Chapter 4: The Teacher's Pet Torches My School**

"What did you say?" Slith growled slowly.

"Well, um, when I say back off, I mean, um, you know, j-just calm down," I stammered. Boy, was I stupid or what? Yelling at Slith was like asking to have your grave dug. What the heck was my problem?

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Uh, n-n-no Ms. Slith, I didn't-" I cut off as Slith grabbed my shirt collar and hurled me to the floor.

"You said half-blood! How do you know about them? Let me guess, that Brooklyn brat told you. Ugh! I swear, I'm going to rip that child's throat out for this! When I'm through with her, that pathetic excuse of a demigod will be begging that she was in the Fields of Punishment! And I guess I can finally get rid of the moronic satyr, too! But I'll have to deal with you first. After all, I can't have you running off and warning them, can I?" All I could do was lay there and stare in horror at her. My teacher wasn't just crazy, she was a maniacal demon who really was trying to kill me. Why didn't I listen to them? Better question, why was I such an idiot? They were trying to protect me, and I just ignored every freaking thing they told me! "What, no smart aleck comments? Has the great Krystol Lore finally run out of things to say?" She tossed her head back and let out a horrible laugh, one that only a truly crazy murderer could do.

Gulping, I finally managed to find out my voice. "I-isn't it considered illegal to k-k-kill kids? Or a-at least, you know, child abuse?" I squeaked.

"My gods, you're more of an idiot than I thought. Child abuse and any other little law made by those insolent mortals don't apply to me or any other monster. I can't believe you're actually more worried about those silly little rules than dying."

"Yeah, well I can't believe how long you're taking. Honestly, by the time you're done ranting and celebrating, I'll probably be miles from here," I said, finally finding some nerve. Looking back on it, I don't know why I told her she was taking forever. I was probably just trying to stall her myself, but, obviously, I didn't pay attention to what I was saying. "After all, what captor celebrates a capture before the killing? I mean come on, it's one of the most basic rules of evil. Every _good _demon knows that. You'd have to be brain dead not to know th-" I cut off with a scream as Slith slapped me across the face. My hand flew up to my cheek where it met something warm and sticky. I pulled it back to see blood covering my fingers.

"You just don't know when quit talking, do you?" she jeered.

"Look who's talking!" I yelled through the pain.

She slapped my cheek again, whipping my head to the side, and screamed, "SHUT UP!" Her dog let out a ferocious bark, one louder than any Chihuahua should've been able to accomplish. "Now, now, sonny, as much as I would love to let you have such a tasty little treat, this half-blood is mine."

"Excuse me, but I am nobody's _whatever _here!"

"I told you to shut up!" She must have finally lost her temper completely. She whipped around, picked up a desk, and hurled it at me. I shrieked, absolutely terrified. Somehow though, I managed to throw myself out of the way, and boy was I glad I did. The desk shattered on impact, the metal and chair snapping as the wood top splintered apart. "Argh! You pathetic coward! Stand and fight like a real hero!"

"You're insane!" I screeched, now hiding behind a desk.

"Get it!" she yelled, pointing at me. At first, I had no clue what she was talking about, but then I saw her dog leap toward me. Out of impulse, I grabbed whatever my hands could find (which happened to be a textbook from the desk basket) and hurled it like a Frisbee at Slith's fur ball, hitting it square in the face and knocking it out of the air.

"How did I…" I let off in wonder.

"You foul creature!" Slith hissed at me. "Fine, if you want to play like that, then I guess we shouldn't hold back either. Chimera, let her have it." At that, her Chihuahua got to its feet, growling and frothing at the mouth. Then it started to change. It began growing, widening at every point on its body. Its teeth elongated into vicious fangs, its tail growing at least ten feet and taking on the look of a snake. Within seconds, it was a horrifying monster. Its head had morphed to that of a bloodthirsty lion, its body a massive goat's with hooves the size of dinner plates, and its tail had taken on the full form of a deadly rattlesnake.

Gulping down the lump that had grown in my throat, I said the first thing that came to my mind. "I thought Chimera was just a myth."

"So did all of your little cousins, and look where that got them," Slith chuckled. "Now, let's just settle this sweetie. Chimera, she's all yours." The monster gave a howl that sounded almost happy, as if Slith had finally said something it wanted to hear.

Then it turned back to me. Its eyes had a victorious gleam in them. It knew it had me, I was about to be its dinner. I could only watch as it sank into pouncing position, bunching its muscles and readying itself for the leap. Then it jumped.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. Maybe I was thinking that I'd be barbequed by the fire it was supposed to be able to breathe. Or maybe I was expecting to be turned into ribbons by its claws. I thought that I would have at least expected myself to scream. But it didn't happen. All I can remember was throwing my hands up and shouting, "Stop!" Immediately, it slowed down. Mid-flight toward me, the Chimera actually slowed down. It wasn't much, but it gave me just enough time to roll out of the way. I heard Slith screeching with rage as the Chimera roared with surprise and anger. I spun around on my knees to see the Chimera opening its mouth, illuminating it with a red glow. Then the fire came out. Once again, I barely managed to hurl myself out of the way. I crashed into the desks this time, and it took me a dazed second to realize that my shoe laces were on fire. I took the time to pat them out so nothing else on me would burn, but found out how bad of a mistake that was. In an instant, the Chimera was on top of the desks next to me, roaring at the top of its lungs as Slith hurdled across the room, landing right next to me.

"You're finished," she hissed at me. I finally noticed that Slith had changed too, or at least looked different. She was clearly scaly, green snake-like skin winding up her body. Her tongue was flicking in and out of her mouth, and I was positive it was forked. Her eyes, if possible, were even more vicious and murderous than usual. I guess the other kids weren't lying when they said they'd seen things about her. She raised a clawed hand up, ready to strike. I closed my eyes, waiting for the death I knew was coming. Then I heard a surprised shout. Realizing that it hadn't been me and that I was still alive, I opened my eyes to find Slith pinned to ground by… nothing. It was like Slith had just thrown herself to the floor. The Chimera looked up, shock running across its face, trying to figure out what had happened. At that moment, a whip lashed out around its mouth and yanked it back from me. The monster was thrown against the wall, the whip falling apart and splashing on the floor. Wait a second, splashing, I thought. Looking over, I realized it wasn't a whip, it was just water. But how...

"Krystol!" somebody shrieked. I twisted around to find Brooklyn standing by the door holding on open and empty water bottle. "What the Hades do you think you're doing here? We told you to get out!"

"Brooke!" someone yelled desperately. I turned toward the voice, which happened to be right next to Slith. She seemed to knock something off of herself, and then flew at me.

"No!" Brooklyn screamed again, flicking her hands at Slith. I saw water soar over my head and slam Slith away into the wall. I looked back to where the voice had come from and saw Julius scrambling off of the ground, holding a ball cap in his hand. I was about to start screaming questions when I got spun around and came face to face with Brooklyn. "I told you to get out! Why didn't you just listen?"

"Brooke!" Julius broke in. "We don't have time for this! Come on!" He spun around to run for the door, but the Chimera leapt in front of the door, baring its teeth and growling.

"You aren't going anywhere," Slith hissed at us. She was on her feet again, walking slowly toward us with her claws at the ready. "I told you to stay away, Carver. I guess you're one of those half-bloods who never learned how to listen. Well, look where that got you."

"Stand down, demon. I've already told you that. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not afraid of you," Brooklyn sounded back.

"No, you're just stupid. I can't believe you actually chose to protect this pathetic excuse of a demigod," she jutted her chin toward me, "rather than escape with your own life. Wow. Tell me child, where exactly do you get your stupidity from. Is it your father that doesn't think much? Or maybe it's your mother whose mind is a little behind."

"Don't you dare insult my mother's intelligence! She has at least ten times the brains that you will ever have, witch!"

"Oh, well someone's edgy with their family. But honestly, how smart can your mother really be if you're this stupid?"

"I told you, she's smarter than you could ever dream of being. And, unless you want to know what power I get from my dad, you'd better shut up and let us out of here!"

"Oh please. I doubt you could even take out a hellhound. How much power or brains could _you_ possibly have?" Slith threw her head back, cackling at Brooklyn. I had no clue what these two were going on about, but I didn't think Slith was making a very good choice. "I bet every monster that your pathetic parent ever met died laughing at them."

"If only you knew…" Brooklyn trailed, anger escaping with every word. I glanced at her, just to see what reaction Slith was getting from her. To sum things up, Brooklyn looked pretty ticked off at this point. Her hands were clenched into tight, white-knuckled fists while her teeth ground against each other. Her face bore an expression that could've belonged to Slith. Once again though, it was her eyes that really got me. They were so dark that the edges of her irises were almost pitch black. The green I'd seen glinting in and out earlier was clear and strong now, mixing with the gray and seeming to create a devastating hurricane within her eyes.

"Oh please. Child, when will you figure out that I am not afraid of…?" Slith left her words hanging as she stared at Brooklyn as if she finally recognized something. "Those eyes. I've seen that green before, but the gray… It can't be. It would never be allowed."

"What, did you finally figure something out?"

"You're… you can't be… but that green…"

"Spit it out, Slith," Brooklyn hissed. "Who am I? Is it important to know now?"

"You're… you're _his _daughter. You're Jackson's brat, aren't you?"

"Once again, it took you long enough."

"Wait a second," I broke in, "who's this Jackson person?"

"No one you'll live to meet," Slith growled.

"Leave her out of this, Echidna. This fight is between you and my father."

"Ha! Your father's fight! Please. By battling with us, your father brought this not only unto himself, but unto all those in the family, which, my dear, includes you. Chimera, attack!"

Brooklyn shoved me backward into Julius, sending us both tumbling. Then she sprang forward at Slith as the Chimera blasted the spot she'd been at just a second before.

"Brooke!" Julius hollered. Scrambling up, he darted toward the others. At this point, the room was lit up with fire, flames licking at the desks and chairs as smoke curled off the walls. I didn't know what to do, or what I even _could_ do. Slith and Brooklyn were battling it out claws to sword. Wait a second, I thought. Where'd she get a sword? Then Julius danced into my view, trying to distract the Chimera to keep it from the other pair. These two were crazy! I mean, what twelve-year old has the guts to fight something like those monsters? Then again, it was pretty simple to figure out that those two were _not_ normal.

All of a sudden, a scream pierced the air. No! I thought. Please don't let it be one of them! Looking around, I caught sight of Julius desperately trying to attract the Chimera, whose attention had shifted to the other side of the room. Following its gaze, I saw a cloud of yellow dust falling to the ground, outlining a human figure clinging to a sword.

"Brooklyn!" I cried, glad that she was still standing. A growl broke into my moment of glee. Brooklyn's head whipped around toward the Chimera. She let out a shrill yelp and dove to the side as the beast launched itself at her again.

"Brooke!" Julius screeched. "Get out of here! You and Krys, get out of here now!"

"But the Chimera!" she screamed back, rolling again as it pounced.

"I'll handle it!" he yelled, running across the room toward the monster. "Just get her out of here! I'll meet up with you!"

Brooklyn's eyes darted between Julius and the crouching beast, unsure whether to leave or fight. Roaring, the Chimera leapt at her, and it looked as if she made her choice in the split second. She ducked to the side, jumped up, and pelted toward me. Within seconds, Julius was hurling books, pencils, and just about anything he could get his hands on at the monster. I could only gawk at my crazy friends for a second or two before Brooklyn was throwing me to my feet.

"Move, now!" she screamed, pushing me toward the door. "Julius!" Catching his attention, she slid a dagger out from around her waist and tossed it at him, the blade flying end over end. I managed to see him catch it before Brooklyn forced me through the door.

"What the heck is going on here?" I yelled at her.

"I'll explain later, just run!" With that, she grabbed my wrist and bolted down the hall, roars and smoke trailing out the class door after us.

We burst out the front door of the school, hitting the pavement at full speed. Yanking me across the parking lot, Brooklyn started talking fast. "Okay, long story short, Slith was a monster, and so was her little pet. You saw that. Julius was sent here to watch out for you. I came here 'cause Chiron and my parents were getting worried. Now that you're being attacked, we really need to get you to camp."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain later, Krys, just trust me for now." She finally stopped at the sidewalk. Letting go of me, she started shifting her eyes, frantically scanning the street.

"What are you doing?" I was terrified. My teacher and her crazy pet had just tried to kill us, Julius was still back in the school with that thing, and she was just standing there looking at the street.

"I'm looking for a way out."

"What?"

"Got it!" she yelled, her eyes locking onto something a few feet away. "Just follow my lead, okay. Make sure you act calm, just be normal."

"Oh yeah, my teacher just attacked us, you and Julius are crazy, knife-swinging kids, the school is on fire, and you want me to be calm. Yeah, that should be easy," I snapped. Glaring at me, Brooklyn started forward, walking quickly toward a…..taxi. "A taxi. This is your brilliant idea? Come on, I thought you were good at quick thinking, Carver."

"I am. Just keep your mouth shut, let me do the talking, and I should be able to get us out of here."

"_Should._ Now that makes me feel loads better."

Ignoring me she walked up to the taxi driver who was arguing with his last customer.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" Brooklyn said sweetly, catching the driver's attention. "Yes, um, could you give my friend and I a drive please?"

"Yeah, sure. Hop in and give me a minute, kid," he said gruffly, turning back to his shouting match.

"Come on, Krys," she whispered to me, opening the door and filing into the back seat. Glancing around (and thinking that Brooklyn really had lost her mind), I followed her in and closed the door.

"Honestly, what is wrong with you?" I hissed at her.

"Just trust me, will you? And put on your seat belt. If this actually works, then we're about to get one heck of a ride." Slowly, she slipped off of the backseat and eased herself into the front, barely making any noise. "I am so dead for this," she whined.

"What are you doing?" The words were barely out of my mouth when Brooklyn slammed on the gas, throwing me against the seat. Jerking the wheel, she rode up on the sidewalk, scattering people everywhere, and swerved into the school parking lot. The whole time, we had a severely ticked off taxi driver running after us while waving his hands all over the place. "Brooklyn Carver, have you lost your mind!"

"Just shut up! Give me five minutes of peace and shut up!" she screamed, finally managing to grab her swinging door and slam it closed.

"I thought we were trying to get away! I mean, I'm not a huge fan of this plan, but even I know better than this!"

"Krystol, shut up! I'm going back for Julius!" She slammed the brakes in front of the school entrance, sending my head into the headrest of her seat.

"OW! BROOKLYN!"

"Sorry." Then Julius came stumbling out of the school door, running as fast as his hooves would move. Brooklyn had barely leaned across the front seats and opened the passenger's door when he literally flew into the car.

"Drive!" he hollered. Without wasting a second, Brooklyn slammed on the gas again, sending my head, once again, into my headrest.

"Would you chill out on that gas pedal?" I screeched.

"Krystol, it has not been five minutes!" Brooklyn yelled.

"Guys, stop yelling! Krystol, give us a few minutes! Brooke, focus on driving this thing!" He stared out the window for a few seconds, then a understanding finally dawned on his face. "Wait a second, where did you get this taxi?"

"The driver let me have it," she lied sheepishly.

"Yeah right!" I yelled. "You asked for a ride, and then jacked it when he was yelling at that other guy!"

"Brooke Eve Jackson, you stole this?" Julius exploded.

"Maybe," she said quietly.

"Ugh! Are you kidding me? They're going to kill you for this, then kill me for letting it happen!"

"Hey, I was just looking for an escape route here!" She jerked the wheel to the right, spinning onto the next street and leaving behind shouting drivers and a barrage of horns.

"Now where are you going? We need to get to camp!"

"Give me a few minutes; I have to grab the boys!"

"What boys?" I screamed.

"The two biggest lunatics you'll ever meet," Julius sighed.

"They are not lunatics. They're ten and eleven, they're gonna go crazy," Brooklyn said.

"Who?" I demanded.

"Hold on a second," she said, then yanked the wheel to the left, crossing four lanes of New York City style traffic and flying into another school parking lot. The school day must have just ended for them; the lot was crowded with elementary kids of all ages. Seeing Brooklyn zooming in on them, the kids started screaming and scattering everywhere.

Julius rolled the window down as she slowed the taxi. "Nick! Alex! Get in here!" he managed to scream over the kids. I saw some kids in the crowd moving like they were being pushed, then two boys burst out of the chaos, running at full speed toward us.

"Krys, the door!" Brooklyn yelled. Figuring it would be a good idea to listen at this point, I leaned across the seat and opened the side door, nearly getting tackled as the boys hurled themselves into the backseat. Brooklyn pounded the pedal again as one of the boys managed to slam the door closed.

"Whoa! Now _that_ is what I call an awesome getaway," one of the boys shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"Dude, that was so cool!" the other added. "And I can't believe _Brooke_ did it!"

"Both of you shut up!" she screamed at them.

Ignoring them, I finally really looked at the two kids…..and almost had a heart attack. One of them was the boy I'd seen in the park. I was sure about it; I'd never forget those green eyes. They still had that wild look in them, like he was trying to decide whether to fill your shirt with bugs or drop a bucket of pudding on your head. His hair was whipped up, like he'd just been through a tornado. The other boy couldn't have looked any different. He had shaggy, silky looking black hair. He had eyes as dark as a cave. Still, they had a little light in them, and his face had that playfulness all over it.

"Um, what are you looking at?" the blonde boy asked slowly.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized, shaking my head.

"Hey, Brooke, who's the new girl?" the black haired kid asked her.

"Is it really that hard to understand the meaning of shut up?" she growled sarcastically. One look at her and I could tell she wasn't enjoying her plan too much. She was gripping the wheel so tight that her knuckles were white. Her body was so tense she was shaking. Sweat beaded her brow and ran down the sides of her pale face.

"Brooke, they're just curious," Julius said in a calm voice. "Guys, this is Krystol Lore. She's the new half-blood we've been watching. Krystol, this is Brooke's brother, Nick Jackson," he pointed to the blonde kid, "and this is their cousin," he waved at the black haired boy, "Alex DiAngelo."

"Hey, how ya doing?" Nick asked.

"Uh…" I said brilliantly.

"Well, I'm going to say she's too shocked by everything to speak, completely terrified and is having issues talking, or in total awe of our awesome looks," Alex guessed, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"Dude, it's got to be the looks," Nick said, high-fiving Alex.

"Oh please," Brooklyn laughed tightly. She turned her head back to us and looked over her brother and cousin. "Your hair is completely messed up, you're covered in sweat and a little dirt, and you smell a little."

"Hey!" Nick protested. "We just got out of P.E., what do ex-"

"Brooke!" Julius screamed. Whipping around, Brooke pulled on the wheel, barely avoiding a head-on collision with a car in the other lane and making us all yell. "Okay, Brooke, don't do that again."

"With pleasure," she replied softly.

"Sorry," the boys mumbled next to me.

"Hey Julius, can we tell Krystol some things?" Alex asked, perking up like a puppy.

"Like what?" Julius asked.

"How 'bout some stuff that'll answer my questions?" I piped in sarcastically.

Sighing, Julius said, "Alright, we'll tell you. You probably deserve some answers by now."

"Probably?"

"Okay, definitely."

"Thank you. First off, why does everybody keep calling Brooklyn Brooke?"

"Why do you call her Brooklyn?" Nick asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Her name's Brooke. Well, it was last time I checked anyway."

"Krys, my name's not Brooklyn Carver," she put in. "It's Brooke Jackson. That's why they call me Brooke, it's my real name. I used Brooklyn Carver so that any monsters we might've met wouldn't know who I was. At least, not by name. Every monster knows the name Jackson."

"Why?"

"Long story short," Nick cut in, "our dad. He's one of the best demigod warriors in the last three hundred years, at least. He's killed countless monsters and even took on the Titan's a couple years back. Not to mention, he's a Big Three kid, so he's got power, which monsters hate. So, in hating our dad, monsters also hate us. It doesn't help much either when you know who are mom is."

"Okay. One: what is a Big Three kid? Two: who's your mom?"

"A Big Three kid is a son or daughter of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades. They all gain powers from their fathers. As for their mother, let's just say you do not want her as an enemy," Julius explained.

"That's true. Mom is a genius. She's a daughter of Athena and one of the top strategists to ever enter the camp. She helped come up with most of the strategies in the Titan War. And, of course, being a half-blood, she's an excellent fighter. Like with Dad, monsters don't like Mom at all," Brooke ended.

"I think I already said it a couple of days ago, but your parents sound awesome," I said.

"They're okay," Brooke and Nick echoed.

"What else do you want to know?" Alex asked, light flashing in his black eyes like stars.

"Um, well, what was up with Slith? And that dog of hers, too?"

"Slith, as you know by now, was not a teacher. She was Echidna. And her dog thing, that was obviously Chimera," Brooke answered.

Nick let out a gasp. "You got to fight Echidna?"

"Yep."

"Lucky!"

"Did she kick your butt?" Alex asked.

"No, but if I could I'd kick yours for that," Brooke said sweetly. Alex sank back in his seat at that. "Any other questions right now?"

"Um, nah, I think I'm good for now," I said, trying to take in what they'd already said. It was real, I wasn't hallucinating or anything. Glancing out the window, I realized that we weren't in New York City anymore. Somehow, we'd managed to make it to the near deserted area of Long Island. Trees stretched up all around us and green grass waved with the wind. It seemed so nice and peaceful; I just couldn't believe that, maybe less than an hour ago, I was being chased by crazy fire-breathing lion-goats. I kept on staring for a few minutes when I finally noticed a dark shape running through the woods. Sitting up, I tried to get a better look at it. I couldn't make it out perfectly, but it was definitely animal. I glanced around the car. Julius was talking to Brooke quietly, keeping her calm and helping her with the driving. The boys were playing with a Nintendo DS that they must have smuggled into one of their backpacks. None of them seemed to have noticed the shadow. Since I had nothing else to do, I turned my attention back to the thing. It was flying through the trees on four huge legs, easily keeping pace with our taxi. The thing was absolutely massive in the rest of its body: an enormous head, muscled body, giant paws, and a long tail. Okay, I thought. It must be a cat. But what cat in New York was that big? Then it flashed out of the forest. For a split second, I saw it. It was a lion, and I was convinced it was from the myths, too. It had to have been at least three times the size of the zoo lions. I could've sworn its fur was golden, too. Uh-oh, was my first thought. Then it was gone.

"Um, guys, did any of you see that?" I asked, hoping that at least one of them had seen it.

"See what?" Alex said absently, his face still attached to his game.

"That lion. It just flew out of the woods."

"Krys, lions don't live in New York," Julius said, still helping Brooke.

"Well, they do live in the zoo," Alex said, still not looking up.

"Yeah, but I think we would've heard of a lion escape from the zoo," Nick told him. "It was probably just a shadow or something," he smiled at me. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Besides, if it was anything, it probably would've attacked us by-"

He cut off as the car was jolted across the road. Screams and yelps of fear rang inside of the cab, interrupted by a deafening roar. It was so loud, it sounded like it was right on top of us.

"What the Hades was that!" Brooke screamed. For some reason, I looked up at the roof and was met by four groups of razor sharp claws.

"The roof!" I shrieked. I saw all three boys look up, horror meeting their faces.

"What? What's on the roof?" Brooke yelled.

"Just keep driving, Brooke," Nick told her. "We've got it."

"Got what?"

"I don't know! Does it look like I've climbed onto the roof?"

"Good idea!" Alex shouted, rolling his window down.

"What are doing?" Nick yelled at him.

"Climbing onto the roof," he answered. Then he started pulling his head and shoulders through the opening. Grabbing the roof, his head disappeared from view. Then a shout of terror sounded, followed by another roar and a new round of shaking in the cab. Half a second later, Alex was flying back into his seat, nearly kicking Nick in the process. As he tried to get the window back up, a huge, golden paw swiped down from the cab's top, shattering the half-up window and barely catching Alex's forearm. Yelping, he threw himself back into Nick, holding his scratched arm. "Nemean Lion!" he screamed. At that, Brooke swerved the car, sending Julius into herself and the boys into me.

"Brooke!" Julius shouted. Then she swerved again. "What are you doing?" And again, she swerved.

"I'm trying to get it off!" she yelled. Pushing Alex off of himself and lifting off of me, Nick looked at the car's dash.

"Brooke, stop swerving!" he hollered.

"Why?"

"I've got an idea! Just stop swerving!" Listening to her brother, she stopped swerving and throwing us. I didn't know whether to be grateful or scared. Considering Brooke's plan, who knew what Nick's would be? "You're only doing fifty! We shouldn't spin too much and it might get it off."

"What?" Alex yelled.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Julius shouted at Nick.

Ignoring them, he kept talking, trying to get Brooke to do whatever he was talking about. "Brooke, just try it! Trust me." She looked as if she really did want to take his word (whatever that was) but was having doubts about it. Then, one of the paws still attached to the roof ripped itself away, taking a chunk of metal with it. In the second after it, she decided.

"Hold on!" she warned us. Nick threw himself back into his seat and grabbed his headrest. I was about to ask what he was doing when Brooke slammed on the brakes. Alex and I shot forward into the backs of the front seats, Julius nearly flying through the window. Before I could react, I heard a huge thud on the roof. Looking up, white spots dancing in my eyes, I caught sight of the massive lion picking itself up off the ground in front of us. It growled at us and sank onto its haunches.

"Out!" Julius yelled, opening his door and hurtling out of it, Brooke following suit through her own. A second later, Nick was reaching across me and opening my door, shoving me out with himself. And not a moment too late. A half second later, I heard the huge _CRUNCH!_ of metal folding in on itself. Looking up, I saw the monster standing on top of the crushed remains of our ride. Then it turned to Nick and I, growling and spitting at us. It moved into pounce position and was ready to jump when a rock sailed through the air, catching the lion on its nose. It couldn't have hurt, but it certainly surprised it. Shaking its head, the beast turned to find the thrower, and then focused in on Alex, who was holding another rock in his hand.

"Yeah! You want to mess with my cousin? Bring it on, fur ball!" he taunted, hurling the rock at the monster. It dodged it easily, then darted forward, intent on killing Alex. Then Brooke, literally coming out of nowhere, tackled Alex right before he was about to become a pile of confetti. Howling in frustration, the lion turned and locked its eyes on the pair. I saw Brooke whisper something to her cousin. The thing jumped again, missing, once again, as Brooke rolled and disappeared into thin air and Alex practically melted into the shadows next to him. A second later, he was next to us. "She said she wants you to give the hat to Krystol, and then we need to help her," he blurted to Nick. Turning to me, he said, "I'm assuming she wants you to stay out of the way." The lion roared again, turning to us.

Nick yanked a New York Yankees hat from his pocket and shoved it to me. "Put it on and run!" Then he rolled up and ran one way, Alex going the other. I slammed the cap onto my head and took off, just wanting to get away from that thing. After about thirty feet, I ducked behind a tree, peeking around it to see what was going on.

I found the Nemean Lion surrounded by the three kids, all of them pointing swords and slowly circling it. I wanted to help them, but I had no idea how, let alone a way to actually do anything. Looking around, I found rocks all around me. Well, they worked for Alex, I thought. I went to pick up one about the size of my fist when I realized that I couldn't see my hand. I fell backwards in surprise, choking on a scream. I tried to check the rest of my body, but it wasn't there. I was invisible. Then another roar brought me back to the fight. Brooke had moved in for the attack, swinging at its back legs. Her sword simply glanced off of its body. Caught off guard, the monster whirled, swinging a massive paw and sending Brooke flying back about twenty feet and crashing into a tree.

"No!" I screamed. Big mistake. The monster spun around to the sound of my voice. I'm dead, I thought. Then Alex and Nick moved in on it, Alex running to its back, Nick getting in front of it and attempting to get its attention. But why would he want that thing to see him, I thought. Did he not see what just happened to his sister? Then their plan hit me when I saw Alex launch himself onto the lion's back, landing almost on its head. I started searching my brain for the myth of the Nemean Lion, trying to figure out how their plan was going to work. Okay, I thought. Nemean Lion: big, mean, defeated by Hercules, invincible fur. That's it! Only its fur is invincible. But that means that they're going for its mouth. Looking back up, I saw that their plan was actually working a little. The lion was bucking and twisting, desperately trying to throw Alex off. Still, most of its attention was focused on Nick, who was swinging his sword and kicking at the lion. Alex was slowly pulling himself closer to its mouth, struggling to stay on. Finally stopping, Alex barely waved his sword hand at Nick. Immediately, Nick stopped running around and went into a defensive crouch. The monster stopped with him, losing track of Alex and falling into pounce position. Just before it moved, it let out an earth shaking roar. In those few seconds, Alex took his shot, moving forward and jabbing his sword down the lion's throat. It froze up instantly, its eyes going wide. Alex pushed himself off as the lion tottered and collapsed onto the ground.

Running up to Alex, Nick started shouting. "We did it! We actually beat it! Alex, that was amazing!"

Looking up, Alex smiled back at him, still breathing heavily. "Thanks. I can't believe that that actually worked."

"At least they're alright," I whispered to myself. Then I remembered Brooke. Frantically, I looked to where I'd seen her hit the tree to find Julius kneeling over her. "Brooke!" I screamed, standing and racing toward her. I skidded to a halt next to Julius and ripped the hat off my head, the two boys now right behind me. Nick ran forward and fell to the ground next to his sister.

"Is she alright?" he asked Julius.

"Well, since I'm talking right now, I'd say that I'm just fine," Brooke groaned, trying to sit up. She had a cut above her right eye, scratches all over her arms, and a few bruises on her face.

"Here, have some of this," Julius said, handing her a water bottle of apple juice. Taking a couple of sips, Brooke sighed contently. Then her wounds started healing, the cuts scabbing and disappearing, her bruises fading to nothing.

"Wow, I didn't know apple juice could do that," I said.

"It's not apple juice. It's called nectar. It's the drink of the gods. It can heal almost any injury, but it can kill you if you take too much."

"Yikes."

"Yeah," Alex put in. "Speaking of nectar, can I have some?" Glancing at him, I realized he had two sets of cuts running up his right arm. He must have cut his arm again on the lion's teeth when he jammed his sword into its mouth.

"Sure," Brooke said, handing him the bottle. He took a quick swig of it, his wounds healing instantly. "Better?"

"Yep, thanks," he said, giving the bottle back to Julius.

"I'd say that you two are fine right now," Julius said, nodding to Nick and I. "Come on, we need to get to the camp before anything else finds us. It's only about a mile up the road now."

"You mean that we have to walk the rest of the way?" I whined.

"Oh please, walking is overrated," Brooke said, picking herself up off of the ground.

"Then how are we going to get there?"

"Jogging."

"But you just said-"

"I said _walking _is overrated. I never said anything about jogging." And with that, she turned on her heel and started jogging, Julius right behind her.

"Come on, you'll survive a mile, Krys," Nick said, grabbing Alex's outstretched hand to pull himself up. Then they set off after the others, leaving me to catch up.

"There it is," Alex said, about 10 minutes later.

"Where?" I asked, completely breathless. We had just stopped at the base of a hill. Other smaller hills stretched out from it, covered in trees. Oddly, given the surrounding forest, only one tree stood on this hill. But it was huge, dominating the entire landscape.

"See that pine tree up there?" Julius asked, pointing at the lone tree. "That's the border. Past that is the camp."

"Come on already!" Nick shouted excitedly. "I haven't been here for nine months." With that, he started climbing the hill, Brooke following right after. I looked to Julius, but he just shrugged and gestured for me to go on. I took a step forward, but stopped when I heard a loud hiss. Alex, not noticing, kept going, trying to catch up to Brooke and Nick. Julius, on the other hand, ran right into me.

"Krys!" he yelped.

"Did you hear that?" I asked quietly. Then I heard it again. I whirled around, Julius (who must have heard it this time) just a second beyond me. What I saw made me scream again.

"Hydra!" Julius cried. He shoved me aside as the hydra darted toward us, throwing himself the other way just in time. The thing was horrible. It was a violent purple, covered in scales. It had razor sharp talons and short spines running down its body. Five heads swiveled around, sporting hungry, yellow eyes and spitting mouths filled with dagger-like teeth. It turned to me, baring its fangs. The middle head suddenly lashed out at me. I heard somebody scream "Roll!" at me, and I somersaulted out of the way, standing up and running from the lizard. Turning my head, I caught sight of the monster chasing me, closing in fast. What, I thought, is it kill Krystol day?

"Hey!" I heard Brooke shriek, followed by a shocked roar. Daring a glance, I saw the hydra wasn't chasing me anymore. Now its attention was on Brooke, who was just up the hill from it and holding out her sword at it. I stopped and turned around to get a better look at what was going on. The hydra had a weird, green slime dripping from one of its heads, a dagger lying at its feet. Hissing and spitting, the hydra snaked its way toward the three half-bloods. With the monster distracted, Julius slowly pulled a wide circle around it toward me. Waving for me to come, I started moving toward Julius.

"You alright?" he asked me.

"I'm fine." Then a roar rang out, followed by a shower of water. I looked over to find the area soaked and the hydra slipping across the grass. Alex and Brooke were standing by with huge, proud smiles. Holding an empty bottle, Nick had an evil grin spreading across his face. Growling in frustration, two of the heads spit acid as the others struck at the kids just out of reach. At the pathetic attempt of an attack, the boys actually laughed as Brooke unsuccessfully attempted to hide a giggle. Out of the blue, the hydra pulled up and dashed at the kids while they were distracted.

"Watch it!" Julius hollered. Finally paying attention, the three made a mad dash, attempting to escape the snapping heads. Nick fell back, tripping over a rock and being forced into rolling under one of the mouths. Brooke sprinted diagonally to the left, trying to get out of its reach, but had to leap over one neck and duck under another, being chased across the field. Alex got the worst of it. Making a move for the shadows, he stumbled on a fallen branch, giving one of the heads just enough time to knock him off his feet. Sprawling to the ground, Alex turned over to two spitting heads. The hydra heads rose for an attack, but just as they were about to strike, he cried, "Rise, souls of Hades!" Almost instantly, the air grew colder, the sky darkened, and the earth began to split in front of him. Out of the crack, hands of bone and shadow popped up, groping at the air and earth, pulling themselves until half a dozen fully formed skeletons and spirits formed a barrier between Alex and the hydra. Pointing at the monster he ordered, "Attack!" The dead soldiers moved into battle, hacking and slicing at the monster.

"Get to the border!" Julius shouted, hauling me up and dragging me toward the tree. With the monster being distracted by the soldiers Alex had summoned, the other three were able to dash up the hill behind us. Then an ear splitting howl erupted from behind us. I didn't dare look back, afraid that I would freeze up at what I might see. Obviously, Brooke had a different idea.

"It's behind us!" she shouted. "It sprayed those things or something!"

"Di immortales!" Alex muttered. "All that work for about five seconds of help."

"I got it! Alex, do you still have your sling shot on you?"

"Yeah."

"Good! Keep running guys. Alex, let me see it!"

"It's closing in!" Brooke yelped. Finally, I turned my head to see what was going on behind me. The hydra was no more than twenty feet behind us. About thirty feet behind it, there was a bubbling puddle of black and green ooze, bits of bone still disintegrating at the edges of the pool. That's disgusting, I thought. Not feeling in the mood for throwing up, I whipped my head back forward. The tree was only fifteen feet away now. Maybe we could make it.

"Scatter!" Julius yelled. The others all darted away in different directions up the hill. It took me just a second longer to react, but that was all that the hydra needed. One of the heads slammed into my side, sending me flying. I yelped in pain when I hit the ground. Looking up, I realized I was only five feet from the tree. Great, I thought. All that work, all that fighting, running, terror, and everything else for this. Now I get to die five feet from protection. Then I saw a head hit the ground next to me, severed from the rest of the monster. I screamed (more so out of disgust than anything). The whole thing reared back in surprise. Looking around, I saw Brooke standing next to me with a sword covered in green slime.

"Move it!" she shouted in my ear. Scrambling up, I saw the boys were already past the border. Nick caught my attention though. He was standing there, holding a slingshot back and getting ready to fire it. "What is that?" Brooke screamed at him.

"Greek fire!" he yelled, almost smiling.

I heard Brooke gasp, then she yelled, "Get down!" Julius and Alex hit the ground immediately. The next thing I knew, I was tackled to the ground just past the pine tree. Then an explosion shook the hill, bits of rock and dirt showering over us. When I looked back up, the monster was on the ground, dead and burning.

"Yuck! I hate having to get rid of hydras," Julius grumbled.

"Get over it," Brooke said, pulling me up. She had a few new little scratches dotting her arms and cheeks. She was covered in dirt and a bit of monster slime. Looking around, I realized that all of us looked the same way. "You're dead," she said, pointing at Nick, who just smiled back. Shaking her head, she turned back to me. "Well, Krys, you managed to make it this far."

"So what now?" I asked.

"Now?" Alex repeated, grinning at me. "Now you train."

"Krystol Lore," Brooke said, sweeping her hand toward the valley beyond the hill, "welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

**A/N: Okay, sorry it took a while to update. School's insane for me right now: projects, homework, sports, 8****th**** grade promotion, and all kinds of other stuff. Plus, I've got stuff I have to do after school, so it's hard to find time to write. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I kept my promise to pick it up, now let's hope it stays like that. So, yeah, that's it I guess. R&R please (seriously, I haven't gotten a single review for this thing, good or bad). You know what, I don't think I'll update until I have at least two reviews, and that is extremely low in my opinion, especially since it's the Internet.**

**P.S. This story will have nothing to do with ****The Lost Hero**** or anything else in the ****Heroes of Olympus**** series. **

**Wow, I just realized that I wrote over 8,000 words for this one chapter…. I'm pathetic.**


	5. Can Life Get Any Stranger

**Chapter 5: Can Life Get Any Stranger**

**AN: Thank you to the people who reviewed, and to all those who have somehow managed to continue reading this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

The camp was like nothing I'd ever seen before. An entire area was covered in twenty or thirty cabins, every single one of them completely different from the last. A huge mansion-style building painted blue and white sat off to the side. Another building, this one an open pavilion, was filled with tables. Farther out in the valley was a massive wall that looked like it was on fire and dropping rocks. Sitting near the middle of the camp was a bright, blue-green lake with a few canoes tied to a dock. One side of the valley was completely covered in a huge forest that nearly ran out to the ocean. It was amazing.

"Wow," was all I could manage.

"Yeah, now you know why I wanted get over this hill so fast," Nick said, his eyes gazing out at the camp. I noticed that Brooke and Alex were both staring at the camp, too, like they were finally home after being gone for a century.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Brooke said.

"Can we stop goggling at the camp and get in it already? Like I said, I've been waiting for nine months to get back here," Nick complained.

Brooke let out a laugh at him while Julius and Alex snickered. "Alright, if you're that impatient, then let's go," she said, grabbing his arm and jogging down the hill.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Alex called, sprinting after the two.

"Pfft, cousins," Julius said playfully. Sighing, he said, "Come on, we need to get you down there. It's time you found out exactly who you are." Taking my wrist, he started pulling me down the hill after the others.

"You two are incredibly slow, you know?" Brooke smirked as we caught them at the base of the hill.

"Shut up," Julius joked, swinging an arm out at her. She just bent backward, completely ducking the blow and coming back up.

"Again, you're slow," she chided. Julius just stuck his tongue out at her, making the boys snicker. "What are you, five?" That sent the rest of us laughing.

"Oh come on. We need to get Krystol down to the Big House." Turning around, he stalked off into the valley.

"Fun crasher!" Nick called after him, a huge smile plastered to his face. Julius just waved at him, still walking away from us.

"Come on, he's right," Brooke said. Grabbing my hand, she pulled me after him with the boys right behind us.

As we walked after Julius, I started noticing that the camp was buzzing with activity. Kids were milling around, talking with each other, playing games. Some were even lugging what looked like swords, bows, and shields, even those who couldn't have been more than eight. And they were all walking around in orange t-shirts. Hearing neighing, I looked up to find horses soaring through the sky. The place was amazing.

"Hey Brooke!" a group of girls called out, waving as they ran past us.

"Hey guys!" she waved back.

"Hey Nick! Alex!" somebody shouted. Glancing around, I saw another boy running toward us with a huge grin. He looked about thirteen or so. He had light brown hair and eyes like chocolate. He was a bit tall for his age and well-muscled with a bow slung over his shoulder. Stopping in front of us, he eyed the boys with an eager look. "Nice seeing you two back here. Hey Brooke, Julius."

"Hey Caleb," they all chorused.

"I see you've got a new half-blood with ya. What's your name?" he nodded to me.

"Um, Krystol Lore," I said nervously.

"Cool. I'm Caleb, just in case you didn't hear these guys." I just nodded, not really sure what to say. "Well, I'm taking off. Are you two coming with me?"

"Sure, it's better than hanging out with these losers," Nick said, eyeing his sister. Snickering, the three turned and took off toward the cabins.

"Who exactly was that?" I asked out loud.

"Caleb Solace," Julius answered. "His parents are half-bloods, too. Come on, we still have to get to the Big House."

Walking through the valley, a bunch of other kids kept coming up, welcoming my friends and asking who I was. Finally, we managed to reach a volleyball court where a heated game was being played. It didn't seem like a fair match to me though. Five or six kids, all with different shades of blonde hair and gray eyes, were playing a team of three others, each one looking different than the other. Somehow though, the three were managing to pass back almost every hit. The ball hit the ground on the blonde-haired side, followed by a round of cheering from the three kids and Brooke. "That's game!" a girl called from the three's side. High-fiving each other, the two groups ambled off the court. The three kids looked up and caught sight of us, quickly darting over with looks of delight.

Now that they weren't jumping all over the place, I could get a good look at them. There were two girls and one boy. One of the girls had brown hair stringing down her shoulders, ending in little curls. Her eyes were a fierce brown, sharp and watchful. She wasn't huge, but with her muscles, she looked like she could've gone a whole game against a linebacker. Still, she couldn't have been any older than that Caleb kid. The boy was tall. He had sandy-brown hair that fell like a mop against his forehead and calm hazel eyes. His hands were thin and nimble, but rough with callouses and covered with soot. He had a warm smile that made you feel like the kid was already your friend. The guy looked about thirteen, too. The last girl almost made my jaw drop. She was gorgeous. She had straight dirty blonde hair that tumbled halfway down her back like a waterfall. Her eyes were like a rainbow, vibrant and constantly changing. The girl could've been a beauty queen, except her muscles and the knife strapped to her hip said she could've kicked your butt into next week if she really wanted to. Yet the girl only looked about as old as Brooke and I.

"Hey Brooke," the rainbow-eyed girl said, running forward and closing Brooke in a tight hug. They stayed like that for a few seconds until the other girl cleared her throat.

"You mind telling us who your new friend is here Brooke?" she asked, jutting her chin toward me.

"Oh right! Guys, this is the half-blood that Julius has been watching this year. You want to introduce yourself?" she asked me.

"Um, hi, I'm, uh, I-I'm Krystol. Krystol Lore," I stuttered out.

"Nice name," the boy said.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"I'm Zach by the way. Zach Mason."

"Nice to meet you."

"I'm Charlotte Rodriguez," the brown-haired girl said. I nodded back to her.

"And I'm Monica. Monica Hartridge," Rainbow Eyes smiled.

"Hey, are the two natural disasters here yet?" Zach asked, turning back to Brooke.

"Yeah, they went with Caleb somewhere. Probably down to the cabin," she said, waving toward the cabin area.

"Oh crap," he whispered.

"If those three have done anything stupid, I swear…." Charlotte started, leaving the threat in the air as she raced off with Zach at her heels.

"Aren't you a bit worried about the damage those three could've done by now?" Julius asked Monica.

"Nah, besides, if they did anything, I'm sure Charlotte will sort them out soon enough," she replied calmly. Turning back to Brooke, she started again. "My gods, it's been so long since I've seen you."

"I know! And I can't believe that we couldn't come to the camp this winter. Mom and Dad always let us come then," Brooke said, clearly overjoyed to be with her friend again.

"They could go on for hours like this," Julius whispered to me. "They've been best friends since they were like four." Turning back to the girls, he continued, "Hey, come back to the real world, lollipops. We've still got a job to do."

"Lollipops?" Brooke repeated, looking slightly offended.

"What job?" Monica asked.

"We still have to take newbie here to see Chiron," Julius told her, pointing at me.

"Oh, you haven't seen Chiron yet? Brooke, why were you letting me ramble on like that if she hasn't been to Chiron yet? You know that all new demigods have to see him A.S.A.P.," Monica gasped.

"I know, I guess I got sidetracked again," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well, go on. She needs to see him. Besides, I should probably head down to the cabin and make sure Charlotte hasn't killed the boys."

"Oh please tell me she has." Giggling, Monica turned and ran toward the cabins, her long hair swinging out behind her.

"Come on, guys. We've got a centaur to meet," Brooke said.

When we reached the porch of the mansion, we found a woman sitting on the rail and staring what looked like a map of the night sky.

"Hey Tanya," Brooke grinned, waving at the lady.

The woman looked up from her map, smiling at the three of us. "Hi Brooke. Julius. It's good to see you two." She was really pretty. Her eyes were a deep brown, like dark chocolate. They were warm and welcoming, twinkling like stars in the sky. Her hair was shoulder-length. It was black, little glints shining in it like glitter, and it looked like pure silk. She had soft-looking, olive skin and toned muscles. For some reason, she looked familiar though. Turning her shining eyes to me, she continued. "You must be the new half-blood. I've heard about you from these two. What's your name sweetie?"

"Krystol Lore. And you are…?" I said to her.

"Tanya," she said, hoping down from the rail and coming toward us. "Tanya DiAngelo, daughter of Nyx, goddess of the night. It's nice to meet you." Turning back to Julius, she asked, "Has she been claimed yet?" He shook his head, looking rather anxious. "Hmm, well, I wouldn't worry. After all, there's still plenty of time left in the day. I'm guessing you were heading in to see Chiron, so I should probably let you go. It was nice to see you two, and meet you, Krystol." She walked past us, holding her map and heading toward the volleyball court.

"Um, excuse me," I called after her. Turning her head, Tanya raised an eyebrow to me. "You said your name was Tanya DiAngelo. Are you by any chance related to Alex?"

"Oh, I'm only his mother," she replied sweetly. Then she turned back around and continued into the valley.

"Man, I just love her," Brooke said. "She's so sweet. And yes, Krys, she is Alex's mom. We'll talk later about the families in camp. Let's go see Chiron."

Entering the Big House, I found a scene that matched the camp well: It had absolutely nothing in common with the other buildings. The walls and ceiling were painted a deep purple, a small design of grapes lining the walls near the floor. From the ceiling hung little glass ornaments of different shapes: lightning bolts, deer, horses, bows and arrows, spears, dozens of different birds, and much more. Along the walls were faint outlines of what looked like all sorts of beasts, raging battles, and humans swinging weapons around. The floor was covered in a dark wood paneling. In the center of the room sat a square of black leather sofas and a single wheel chair, all surrounding a mahogany table and sitting on top of a leopard skin rug. Set into the far wall was a tall, ornate black fireplace. Shoved into a corner was a dusty old Pac-Man machine.

"Wow. Um, somebody tell me that's not a real leopard skin," I said, partially disgusted.

"Hades no. Our director would skin us all alive if that was real," Brooke answered. "Now where is that old horse?"

"Now Brooke is that really a nice thing to say about one of your teachers?" a voice put in. Out of one of the hallways leading from the room stepped an extremely tall man. A second later, I realized he wasn't just tall, or even a man for that matter.

"Holy crap!" I yelped.

"What?" Julius asked, clearly surprised.

"Mutant pony dude!" I pointed at the figure. He had the top half of a man, but where his legs should have been were four long, white, and hoofed legs that stamped at that ground. He even had the long horsehair tail swishing behind him. He was wearing a green t-shirt that said: **Party Ponies. Vegas Convention. **Slung over his shoulder were a bow and a quiver full of arrows. He had warm eyes, kind of like freshly brewed coffee, short brown hair, and a small beard. Overall, he looked like any average guy on the street, minus the pony butt part.

"Hm, mutant pony dude, huh? I can't say that I've heard that one before. No child, I am certainly not a mutant. I am a centaur. I'm sure you've heard of us in your history class," he said.

"Krys, this is Chiron," Brooke explained. "He's our activities director here at camp. He does more but we can go into that later. Chiron, this is-"

"Krystol Lore," he finished, a smile spreading across his face. "We weren't expecting you this soon, but that's quite all right. And by the looks of it, I would say you've already been to battle. Certainly not our preferred way of introducing our half-bloods to this world, but it happens. I suppose we really didn't make it any harder for a monster to find you though. From what Mr. Redwood has told me you are a fairly powerful child. Then sending Brooke in would have only increased the chances of you being found." I was hardly taking in anything the centaur was saying. I was still too busy trying to not freak out about the point that the activities person was half horse.

"Um, Krys, are you still alive in there," Julius asked, looking pretty concerned.

"I suppose walking in in this form was not the best idea, especially, since I'm sure you've already seen some strange things today," Chiron said, looking down at himself. Turning around, he clip-clopped over to the wheel chair and started to sit in it. Then, right before my eyes, his whole lower body disappeared into the chair, replaced by a set of fake legs covered by a blanket. "Perhaps this will be more along the lines of your standard of normal?" he asked me. Gulping, I nodded to him. Nodding back, he turned his chair around to face the couches. "Why don't you three come and sit. I'm sure you have quite a story to share. And, of course, I'm sure Krystol will have a few questions." More like a million, I thought. Following my friends to the couch, I looked around a little more. While checking out the room's design, I'd managed to skip over the four or five hallways and two staircases leading in and out of the main area.

"Now," Chiron started, bringing my attention back to him, "what exactly happened?"

Brooke opened her mouth to answer when another voice broke in. "Chiron, who are you talking to out here?" a woman asked, coming out of one of the halls with her face buried in a book.

"Well, perhaps you should look up and find out for yourself, Annabeth."

When the lady looked up, I could've sworn that I was looking at a near perfect clone of Brooke. The woman had the same toned, slim figure as Brooke. She had the same facial features and expression. Even her tan was almost the exact same as Brooke's. Her eyes were definitely a perfect match. They were the same stormy gray, with the same intelligent and intimidating look in them. Only one thing was different between the two: the hair. Whereas Brooke's was as dark as midnight, this lady had rich, honey-blonde hair, just like Nick did. It fell down her shoulders in long locks, ending in perfect little curls.

"Hi Mom," Brooke said, jumping up and running to the woman, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Hi sweetie," she said back, hugging Brooke tightly. After a few seconds, she pulled Brooke off of her and, looking into the girl's eyes, started back up, "I thought you weren't supposed to be here 'til tomorrow."

"Well, that's what was planned, but half-blood plans don't always work out."

"That's true." Looking back toward us, she smiled at me. "You must be Krystol. Brooke's told us quite a bit about you. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Annabeth Jackson by the way, Brooke's mom."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Jackson," I said nervously.

"Oh, please call me Annabeth. Mrs. Jackson is just too formal to me."

"Oh, okay." Then I remembered something Brooke had told me a few days back. "Hey," I said to Brooke, "you told me your mom's name was Silena, and that you got your hair from your mom."

"Oh, did I?" she asked, not looking at all forgetful about that detail.

"Lemme think, yep, you sure did."

"Brooke, are you lying to your friends?" her mom asked.

"Well, I kinda had to. I mean, you know how dangerous the truth can be sometimes, especially when it comes to names. I was just making sure that nobody would be able to use any real information if they were listening in our talk," she rattled off quickly. Looking like she was ready to change the topic, she started again, "So, where's Dad at?"

"Down at the arena, I think," Annabeth answered, walking over to the couches with Brooke following like her shadow.

"Perhaps you two should sit. We were just about to hear how these three got here so early," Chiron invited, waving the pair toward the couches.

"Well," Julius started, "it's not just us three that are here now…"

About twenty minutes later, the story had been finished by both Julius and Brooke, the other filling in whatever one forgot or skipped. The whole time, Chiron and Annabeth were completely silent, even with the monsters and Brooke's taxi theft. After a few moments of silence, Annabeth finally sighed.

"You stole a taxi?" she asked slowly, running her hand through her hair.

"Um, yeah," Brooke answered, looking down at her feet.

"And now it's lying in the middle of the road a mile from the camp, completely destroyed?"

"Pretty much." Looking up, she continued, "So, what's gonna be done about it?"

"Annabeth," Chiron spoke up, "I need you to make any of the calls necessary to fix this issue. As for you, Brooke, you will serve two weeks of KP, plus a week of cleaning the stables. I think that should serve as fair punishment from the camp." Brooke nodded to him without a single objection.

Standing up, Annabeth faced Brooke. "We'll talk about this later, understand? And when I say we, that includes your father and your brother." With another nod from her daughter, Annabeth turned and walked off down one of the hallways.

"Well, with that problem almost solved, I believe it is time to move to other issues," Chiron started again. Turning to me, he asked, "Brooke and Julius said they found you already fighting Echidna and Chimera. Would you mind telling me what happened between you three before that?"

"Well, we just said some things, she threw me around a bit, ordered her pet to kill me, and then these two showed up and kicked butt."

"Did anything strange happen while you were fighting with the monsters?"

"Well, not really…."

"Krystol, anything that seemed abnormal, even slightly different than usual, I need you to tell me about."

Looking into his eyes, I could tell that he really wanted to know what had happened, that he really cared about me. "Well, there were a few things. Um, when the Chimera attacked me, I mean when it was still in dog form, I sort of grabbed a book and Frisbee-threw it at it. But it was dead on, a perfect shot, or at least a near-perfect shot."

"Yes," he nodded, "your battle skills are breaking through. Please, continue."

"The other thing was when it jumped at me in its monster form. I don't know what happened, but it slowed down."

"Yes, well, time often shifts for half-bloods when they are in battle. Many have told me when they are first attacked, just as you were, that everything seems to slow down. Some have even told me that they feel as though time moves faster for them. I'm sure it was just that my dear."

"Yeah, but it was just the Chimera. Nothing else slowed down. And it only went slow after I yelled for it to stop."

"Really?" Julius asked, sounding confused. Nodding, I looked at the other two to find they were having their own little look conversation.

_What does that mean_, Brooke seemed to ask.

_We can talk about it later_, Chiron eyed her.

_But I've never heard about that._

_Not now._

"Did anything else happen, child?" Chiron asked. Shaking my head, he went on. "Well, I suppose you have some questions then."

"More like a million," I mumbled.

"As do most half-bloods. I assure you though, you will have answers."

"Okay. First question: why the heck did you lie to me at the park?" I asked, glaring at Brooke.

"Simple, I had to keep secrets that you couldn't or shouldn't know yet," she replied, returning my stare.

"What all wasn't true?"

Shifting her eyes up, Brooke started moving her mouth and counting on her fingers. After a few seconds, she looked back to me. "Okay, let me run through the list. My hair really comes from Dad and my eyes come from Mom. All I did there was switch it around a little. My parents' names though were a complete lie. You met my mom, Annabeth. I'm sure you'll meet my dad later. His name isn't Connor, it's Percy. Well, technically it's Perseus, but everybody just calls him Percy. When you asked about the sports, most of it was true or somewhat true. I can run, love water sports, and play volleyball way too much. I don't actually fence though. We have our own style of swordplay here at camp. But I didn't lie about capture the flag, you just interpreted it wrong. We have our own form of capture the flag that you'll learn about pretty soon. And you should know: I didn't end up at Ellis Academy because of my ADHD or dyslexia. I was there because I got sent to make sure you were safe. Are you happy now?"

"Um, yeah," I said. Um, no, my mind screamed. Once again, you have made everything simple! What is wrong with you? "Alright, next question. What the heck is going on here?"

"What do you mean?" Julius asked.

"Well, I'm being attacked by crazy teachers and animals, my friends and their families swing around a bunch of swords and knives, I've been dragged miles away from my home to some weird camp where people think they are children of gods, and now I'm talking to a centaur. So, somebody tell me what's going on."

"What do you make of what has happened? What do you think is going on, Krystol?" Chiron asked. But, just like with Brooke, it sounded like he was expecting an answer from me.

"As far as I can tell, Mom lied when she said monsters weren't real," I joked. The other three, however, seemed completely unfazed by the answer. "What?"

"Krystol, this is not the sort of thing that you should be joking about."

"Why? It's not like any of this is real anyway. I'm probably just being pranked on some stupid TV show."

"Krys, we might be your best friends, we might mess around with each other, and we probably would prank each other. But this is something we would never joke about," Brooke said, her face set and her voice dead serious.

"No way," I laughed. "This isn't real. Monsters don't exist. They're just stories that were made to scare little kids. You know, if this isn't a prank, then I'm probably dreaming. Yeah, that's it, I'm just dreaming," I said, noticing my voice was starting to get higher pitched. Before I could start freaking out, I tried everything I could think of to wake myself up. I started pinching myself, snapping my fingers and clapping my hands in front of my eyes, even slapping myself across the face. Nothing worked. I was still in the room, the three of them just staring at me in total shock and concern.

"Krys quit tormenting yourself!" Julius shouted.

Ignoring him, I slapped my cheek again, and then let out a pained yelp. My cheek was stinging, and when I pulled my hand back, my fingers had spots of red all over them. "No," I whispered. I looked back up in desperation.

"If this were a dream, do you really think you'd still have that cut, and that it'd be hurting like that?" Brooke asked. I just stared at her in absolute horror. "Krys, I'm sorry, but it's real, all of it." I glanced back at my hand, and then screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Ow! Krys!" Brooke squealed.

"Krystol, shut up!" Julius shouted.

I stopped screaming, gasping for breath. The others all had pained looks and were rubbing heads and ears. Footsteps thudded down the hall as Annabeth raced back into the room.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"Krystol just blew out our eardrums is what happened," Brooke groaned.

"Why?"

"'Cause she just figured out that she's not dreaming and everything that happened is real." Looking back to me, Brooke grabbed a pillow and shoved it into my hands. "Use this next time," she mumbled. Nodding, I looked back at the pillow. A second later, my face was planted in it and my screeches were ringing through the room again. Then the pillow was yanked from my hands and my mouth clamped by a palm. Glancing up, I saw Annabeth standing over me with a look of sympathy.

"Let's not do that, sweetie," she suggested. "Maybe if you ask more questions, you can figure out more of what's going on." Nodding back to her, she smiled and let go of my mouth. Sitting down by Chiron, she started again. "The cab business is solved. The driver won't press any charges, so long as he's paid the full amount that his taxi was worth."

"Good," he nodded to her as Brooke let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I wouldn't be sighing if I were you, young lady," Annabeth said. "You're still in massive trouble."

"So," I interrupted, my voice shaking, "this is all real? All of the monsters, they're alive?"

"Yes, child, the monsters are real," Chiron replied.

Groaning, I put my head into my hands. "So what's next?" I mumbled. "Is the boogey man or something else gonna come chase me down?"

"No, Krys, the boogey man isn't real," Brooke smiled.

"True, that story was simply made up to scare children. You won't have to worry about that or any of the other children's stories that you may have heard," Chiron added. "However, there are more beings that you need to worry about than those that you met today. You do know the stories from Greece, don't you?"

"You mean those myths about monsters and gods and heroes?" I asked, looking back to the centaur.

"Yes, those stories exactly. Well, we've told you more than once now that the monsters are quite real. But you must understand, they are not the only stories that are true. Every story or myth you have heard of from Greece, and more, are much more than just tales."

"So everything is real? The stuff that the Greeks told, their gods and monsters, all of those stories, it's actually real?"

"Yes," he said. Looking around, the others were silent. Not a single objection was made.

"Why are you telling me this? What does any of this have to do with me?"

"This, Krystol, has everything to do with you. You are being told because it is your birth right as a half-blood."

"Okay, what is that? Honestly, what is a half-blood and why am I being called one? And what is a demigod?"

"Okay, first off," Brooke broke in, "a demigod and a half-blood are the same thing, just different names. Second, you're being called one because you are one."

"Um, Brooke, I think I would know if I was a half-blood."

"Trust me, you wouldn't."

"Fine, even if I wouldn't have known on my own, my mom would've told me." I watched as everybody exchanged glances and eyes were cast everywhere but to me. "Mom would have told me. I know she would've. She wouldn't lie to me."

"Look, Krystol," Annabeth started, "I'm not saying that your mother lied to you, but sometimes parents have to keep secrets to protect their children." I watched as her eyes flicked toward her daughter. "Sometimes they'll do anything to make sure their kids are safe. I've seen it plenty of times. Parents will hide a secret like this for years. For example, my husband didn't know about this until he was twelve, like you, and he is the son of one of the most powerful gods. We managed to keep this out of Brooke's and Nick's lives for nine years. The point is there are parents who will lie about this to protect their kids."

"So," I began slowly, "my mom…she lied… For all those years, she…she's been living with this."

"Basically," Julius said. "Your mom did a really good job with you, too, always keeping you safe. As far as I can smell, you're pretty powerful. Your mom must have been hiding you from monsters constantly, and on her own nonetheless."

"Then, I am one. I'm a half-blood. I'm like everybody else at this place."

"Yes."

"Then what is a half-blood? What does that even mean?"

"Half-blood means, in its most basic terms, half-human."

"So I'm only _half_ human. Then what's the other half?"

"I think you know Krys," Brooke said.

"I think I might. But, it's not really possible, is it?"

"Many others have asked the same question, child," Chiron put in. "When they have the idea, but have not quite settled on it, I use my old students as examples. Theseus, Perseus, Heracles, and others, they were all half-bloods as well. While they had a mortal parent, there was another side. Who was their other parent, the other half of their family? If you can answer this, then you do indeed know what a half-blood is."

"Half-blood," I whispered. "Half mortal, half god."

"Precisely."

"I'm not one of you. There's no way that I can be the same thing as those people. I mean, Jason, Heracles, Achilles, those guys were heroes. I'm just…me. And there's nothing special about me. I mean, when those monsters came around, I freaked out. I started screaming. How am I supposed to fight those things when all I can do is scream at them? And besides, I'm dyslexic and have ADHD. What kind of a hero can't read or sit still for five minutes?"

"Most of them," Julius said. "Pretty much everybody here has dyslexia and ADHD, but that's a good thing. You have dyslexia because you aren't supposed to read English. What your brain is wired to read is ancient Greek. And that ADHD, those are your battle skills. You constantly want to move, and that's what battle is. Face it Krys, you're a half-blood."

"Well… wow, this is definitely not something I expected. So, if my mom's mortal, then my dad is a god?"

"Yep, and that explains why you don't know him," Brooke said.

"Um, I just thought of something," Annabeth said. "Does your mom know you're here?"

"Oh crap. We didn't have any time to message her. We had to leave the school too quickly."

"Oh man. Mom's gonna freak about this. I am so dead! She's probably got the whole town looking for me by now," I whined.

"Ah, that is what Iris-messaging is for, Ms. Lore," Chiron smiled. "Annabeth, would you please…"

"Of course." Standing up, she walked down another hallway.

"Where's she going?" I asked.

"You'll see," Brooke smirked.

A few minutes later, Annabeth was walking back into the room holding some machine with two weird attachments that looked like mirrors. "What is that?"

"Basically, it makes steam," Annabeth answered. "These," she pointed to the attachments, "are sort of like mirrors. They reflect off of each other through the steam. It basically makes a rainbow. You'll see." Pressing a button, she sat back and fished a coin out of her pocket. The machine started to hum and puff out steam, the mirrors shining on each other. Within seconds, a hazy rainbow was dancing in the steam.

"Whoa," I breathed.

Smiling, Annabeth spoke, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, except our offering," and cast the coin into the steam, the coin disappearing as it fell across the rainbow.

"Katrina Lore, New York City, New York," Chiron said. The steam rippled, then I was looking at the living room of my apartment with Mom pacing all over the place. She looked absolutely terrified. Her hair was an absolute mess. Her eyes were wild and misty, like she was on the verge of tears. She was shaking her head and whispering under her breath. Great, I thought. This is my fault. I am a horrible daughter.

Clearing my throat, I spoke up, "Mom."

Her head shot up at the sound of my voice, and then she let out something that sounded between a gasp and a sob. "Krystol, where in name of the gods are you?"

"Mom, don't worry, I'm fine. I'm at this place called Camp Half-Blood. I can explain everything…scratch that, I can explain some things. See, what happened was… Wait a second, did you just say "in the name of the gods"?"

"That doesn't matter. Are you really there?"

"You said that. You said "gods". Mom, why did you…do you…what?"

"Krystol, are you at that camp?"

"Yes, why did you say gods?"

"My gods, why? And I said it because I could."

"Mom, you're not even surprised. Did you know about this?"

"Yes, I do know about it. I just didn't want to tell you because…because I-I didn't want to lose you."

"Ms. Lore, please, how do you know about this?" Chiron asked, his eyes completely focused on my mom.

Immediately, her eyes darkened and her face tightened. I'd seen her like that only a few times in my life. It was always when I asked about my dad. "_He_ told me."

"Who is _he_?" Annabeth asked, leaning forward with interest. "Was it Krystol's father?"

"If you could even call him that," Mom spat, her voice dripping with open hatred.

Eyeing Chiron nervously, Annabeth continued. "Um, Ms. Lore-"

"Please, call me Katrina."

"Okay. Katrina, could you, I mean if you know who he is of course, could you tell us who Krystol's father is?"

"No," she stated, nearly growling it out Annabeth.

"But we need to know, so that we can place her in the right cabin."

"I said no. I'm not changing my answer. I'll leave it up to him if he wants to claim her. But if he has any emotion in that black hole called his heart, then he won't. If he cares at all about Krystol, then he won't claim her. Then again, what has that monster ever known about love?"

"Ms. Lore, Katrina, please explain what you are saying," Chiron said, obviously confused about what she was saying. I watched as my mom's expression changed to worry and her eyes flicked toward me. Annabeth must've seen it too, because she was pushing her daughter up in the next second.

"Brooke, why don't you and Julius show Krystol around the camp," she suggested, although the way she said it she had obviously meant it as a command.

"But Mom, I wanna hear this," she whined.

"No, show her around."

"You know," I cut in, "I'm perfectly fine with staying here. I can see the camp later."

"Actually, I think it would be an excellent idea if Krystol was shown the camp, although I believe Julius has a report to make," Chiron stated, clearly saying that we had no choice. Obviously, the other two knew there was no point in fighting. Julius got up and, sighing, trudged off down one of the halls, calling a good-bye over his shoulder. Brooke walked over and nudged me to get up. Knowing I would never get anywhere with the adults, I got up and followed Brooke to the door.

"And if I catch either of you listening at the door, you both get KP for the next two summers," Annabeth added.

"Darn it," Brooke muttered.

Outside, Brooke started talking. "Well that was strange. It doesn't look like your mom likes your dad much. Anyway, I guess I should give you a tour of the camp."

An hour later, the sun was starting to set and my head was spinning with everything that I'd seen. The burning wall I'd seen earlier had turned out to be a climbing wall that spewed fire and dropped rocks on your head if you didn't climb it fast enough. There was an arts and crafts studio where kids had been sculpting statues, busts, animals, and a bunch of other stuff. I'd gone to a pavilion with no roof that was completely filled with tables. The camp also had a huge amphitheater where they apparently had mini concerts and a nightly campfire. Brooke had also taken me down to the armory where there were piles of armor suits in different sizes. She'd even given a kid some job to forge a set for me. "Safety first," she'd said. "You'll be playing Capture the Flag soon." After that, we'd been to the training arena, the forges (they had a little ten-year-old sharpening and swinging a sword through a cement block in there!), the stables (with a mix of normal horses and actual pegasi), and to a huge field full of strawberries. Finally, we'd ended up at the cabin area (which was probably the strangest place). As we walked, Brooke went on about how kids ended up in their cabins.

"You see, you can't just choose a cabin here. What happens is that your god parent claims you and then you get put into their cabin. We've got a cabin here for each Greek god, plus one," Brooke explained.

"So why is it so important to people if I'm claimed or not?"

"Well," her eyes went greener than before, "about fifteen years or so back, there was this huge fight. And when I say fight, I'm talking full blown war here. One of the things that fueled it was the unclaimed half-bloods. They felt like their parents didn't care that about them, even enough to just acknowledge them. So they turned against them, went to the gods' enemies, and war started. Since then, a deal was made that the gods will claim all of their children so that it doesn't happen again."

"Oh."

"Yeah. But there's still plenty of time for you to be claimed today. It'll probably happen at dinner or campfire tonight. Until then, you can hang out with my cabin if you like."

"Really? Thanks. So, which one is your cabin?" I asked scanning the odd buildings for one that looked like Brooke could belong to.

"Don't bother looking at these ones. My cabin's at the far end of the line. Actually, it's the last cabin."

"What god is it for?"

"Well, see, this cabin is different. It doesn't honor any single god. It's one dedicated to all of the gods. It's for mix-bloods only."

"What the heck is a mix-blood?" The look on my face must have been good because Brooke busted out laughing pretty hard. After a few seconds, she finally caught her breath again.

"Sorry about that. Basically, a mix-blood is a certain type of half-blood. See, there are the normal half-bloods who are the direct children of the gods. A mix-blood is still a half-blood, but they aren't the children of the gods themselves. Mix-bloods are the children of other half-bloods. So, in a way, were still half-bloods, just not the gods' children. Mix-blood is just a term we came up with a few years ago."

"Well, I guess that explains why you don't really seem to fit into any of those," I nodded to the cabins we were passing, though I saw two that I thought she could've belonged to.

"I guess," she shrugged.

A few more minutes of walking brought us to the front of the last cabin. I couldn't decide if it was the most normal or the most abnormal. It wasn't huge like some of the earlier cabins, but it still looked like a perfect replica of a Greek temple. It was built out of smooth, light-colored wood, its pillars rising ten feet up to meet the roof. Faint shapes were lightly carved into the walls: swords, arrows, armor pieces, all sorts of animals, and over a dozen other symbols covered the cabin's surface, just like the ornaments that hung from the Big House front room. Walking up the steps and through the columns, Brooke grabbed the door knob. Turning back to me, she smiled. "Are you coming or what?" she asked, opening the door and walking in. Guessing that it'd be better to stick with her, I climbed the steps and dashed through the doorway.

Inside, I found a scene that could've matched any normal camp cabin. Half a dozen bunk beds lined the walls, each decorated with pictures of other people and a few posters. Suitcases, backpacks, and piles of clothes were strewn across the floor along with a few candy wrappers and chip bags, like whoever lived here had decided to just drop everything and eat. A few other kids were in the cabin, not paying attention to Brooke and I. A boy was sitting on one of the top beds, his head bent as clicking sounded around him. A brown-haired girl leaned against one of the bed posts with her back turned to us. Another girl was laying on the bottom bed of the farthest bunk, her eyes glued to a magazine.

"Hey guys," Brooke called, stepping over the clothes and crossing the room to a bunk across from the girl reading. "Hope you don't mind, but Krys is gonna stick with us for a little bit."

"Fine by me," the brown-haired girl said, standing and turning toward me. I gasped, stepping back as I came face to face with Charlotte Rodriguez.

"Same," the other two added together, looking up from what they were doing to reveal the faces of Zach Mason and Monica Hartridge.

"Whoa, you're _all _in here?" I asked.

"Yep, home sweet home," Monica smiled, tossing her magazine to the floor.

"Really, Monica, did you have to?" Brooke complained. "As if you guys haven't messed up the cabin enough already." Smirking, Monica stood up, grabbed the magazine, and playfully hurled it at Brooke's head, who easily dodged it.

"You two are pathetic," Charlotte chuckled.

"Were you actually reading that thing Monica?" Zach asked, climbing down from his bed.

"As if," Monica snorted. "I was just looking at the pictures."

"Hey, didn't the other three run down here?" I asked, noticing that Nick, Alex, and Caleb weren't around.

"Oh, they did," Charlotte answered, plopping down onto one of the beds.

"Then where are they?" Instead of answering, Charlotte grinned while Zach suppressed a laugh and Monica shook her head.

"What did you do to them?" Brooke stared at Charlotte, crossing her arms.

"Oh, I just took a little precaution," she answered lightly, looking down at her nails like she was making sure they weren't cracked.

"Char, come on, where are they?" Brooke asked. Watching the two girls, I walked over to a trunk at the foot of one of the bunks and sat down on it. A second later, something inside the case pounded on the lid. Shrieking, I flew off the trunk, hitting the floor and spinning around to face the case. It took me second to realize that I had fallen into a crouch with my hands balled into raised fists. Standing up quickly, I found the three half-bloods looking at me and Brooke staring at the case, her face showing a slightly annoyed look.

"Nice reflexes," Charlotte complimented. "You fell into the crouch pretty fast for being a newbie."

Before I could say anything, Brooke was thudding across the floor toward the suitcase. In seconds, she had the latches undone and was throwing back the lid. An instant later, she fell back, sprawling across the floor as hands flew out of the case. Pulling himself up, I saw a gagged Caleb who was bound at the wrists and apparently his ankles too, because all he was doing was squirming in the box. Yanking off his gag, he started ranting. "My gods, Charlotte, I swear, you are so dead for this! And you two just stood there and let her shove us into these things!"

"OK, chill out Caleb," Brooke said, picking herself up off the floor.

"No! I will not chill out Brooke! Charlotte, get your butt over here so I can kick it!" Somehow, he managed to get himself to stand up. Then he started jumping, trying to clear the side of the case. Missing it by a couple of inches, he face planted straight onto the wood floor. "OW!"

"Uh, I'm gonna guess that that hurt," Monica said timidly.

"No duh! Somebody get these ropes off of me!"

Staring at Caleb as he flopped all over the ground, Brooke asked, "Where are the other two?" A moment later, two other trunks were rumbling and clattering across the floor. Sighing, she turned around. "Zach, let Caleb go. Monica, take that one," she pointed at one of the trunks. In less than a minute, Nick, Alex, and Caleb were all standing around the cabin, grumbling and rubbing their ankles and wrists.

"How exactly did you manage to fit them into there?" I asked Charlotte.

"Who knows," she shrugged.

"You know, can we just clean this mess up?" Brooke asked, gesturing to the mess covering the floor. Grumbling about work and that kid rooms weren't supposed to be clean, the demigods picked up the clothes, wrappers, and shreds of rope scattered around the cabin. Finally, with a clean cabin, the kids sat down on their beds. "Well Krys, welcome to our cabin," Brooke said.

"Um, thanks, I think."

"Oh, don't worry, we aren't always like this," Monica added.

"Oh, OK," I sighed, hoping that she was telling the truth and that things weren't always this psychotic. "So, you're all mix-bloods then?"

"Yep, every single one of us," Caleb answered.

"That's cool. So, who are you guys related to?"

"Ah yes, now we enter into the families of Camp Half-Blood," Brooke sighed, lying back on her bed. "As I said, Nick and I are the children of Percy and Annabeth Jackson. We're related to Athena and Poseidon."

"Um, didn't Athena and Poseidon, like, not get along with each other in all of the stories?"

"Yeah," Nick started, "but half-bloods don't always go along with what their godly parents think or want."

"Oh."

"Yeah, here's another example of that," Alex put in. "My dad and their dad are really good friends."

"How is that an example?"

"My dad is a son of Hades and Percy is a son of Poseidon. You could say that Hades and Poseidon don't exactly have the best relationship in the world, but their kids are still friends. Oh, and my parents are Nico and Tanya DiAngelo. Because of them, I'm related to Hades and Nyx."

"Oh, OK. Um, what about you Caleb?"

"My parents are Will and Katie Solace. I'm grandson to Apollo and Demeter."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's kind of a strange combination, but it works."

"Well, if it works for you guys, then it must not be too strange. Charlotte?"

"My parents are Chris and Clarisse Rodriguez. I'm related to Ares and Hermes."

"And before you ask, I'll just go ahead and tell you," Zach cut in. "My parents are Jake and Jadyn Mason. I'm related to Hephaestus and Hermes."

"I guess that leaves me," Monica piped in. "My parents aren't as well-known as their parents," she pointed in the general direction of the others, "but it wouldn't hurt for you to know their names. They're Anthony and Hailey Hartridge. I'm granddaughter to Aphrodite and Iris."

"Wow, you guys really are mixed up in here, huh?" I said.

"Yep, were like the blending of one big messy family," Nick said, followed by a huge rumble from his stomach. "I'm hungry."

"No duh Captain Obvious," Zach teased.

"Shut up Lieutenant Sarcasm," he replied, hurling a pillow across the room at Zach. "How much longer 'til dinner?"

"Does it look like any of us knows?" Charlotte replied.

"Well, doesn't anybody have a watch in here?"

"Yeah, you," Brooke retorted.

"I don't have it on right now," Nick whined.

"What time is dinner at anyway?" I broke in.

"Six o'clock," Monica answered, rifling through another magazine.

"Then dinner should be starting any minute now," I said, not knowing how I knew.

"How do you know?" Brooke asked, eyeing me suspiciously. I opened my mouth to say something when a blast from a conch horn blared through the camp.

"Finally!" Nick cried, practically vaulting off his top bunk and racing through the cabin door with Alex hot on his heels. Brooke tore after the pair, screaming that they had to wait for the rest of the cabin.

Looking at the others, I got a lot of shrugs and smirks before they left as well.

"Yeah, they're definitely a jumbled mess," Monica smiled. Looking at me, she continued, "Come on, I'm sure you're hungry."

"Starving's more like it," I laughed, following her through the door.

Outside, dozens of other kids were walking toward the open pavilion, while dozens more already filled the area. Apparently, the others had caught up to Nick and Alex because the two were being held by their shirt collars by Zach and Caleb.

"Will you two hurry up?" Alex glared at us. "I'm dying of hunger here."

"Yeah, move it already," Nick agreed.

"How 'bout you two get some patience," Monica teased.

"Oh shut up Monica!" Alex growled.

"OK, let's go before one of you does something stupid," Brooke said, waving her hand at Nick and Alex.

"Thank you!" Alex yelled.

"'Bout time!" Nick cried, whirling around and pulling out of Zach's hands before storming off to the dining area.

"Come on," Brooke sighed to everybody, following her brother.

Down at the pavilion, every table had kids at it. A few only had one or two, but others had closer to ten or twelve kids. They were all laughing and joking, huge smiles spread across their faces, all of them, except for one table. The table was stuffed with at least fifteen, maybe twenty, kids. They all had half-hearted smiles, and a few of them were red-eyed and obviously overstressed. Still, every single one of them had practically perfect hair, they were wearing the latest styles of clothes, and all of them looked like they could've dominated a stage without a single spotlight.

"Who are those guys?" I asked, lifting my chin to the crowded table.

"Oh, those are the Aphrodite kids," Monica answered. "If you wanna get technical, they're sort of like my aunts and uncles."

"What?" I asked, somewhat freaked out by the fact that she just called about twenty kids that were between the ages of seven and eighteen her aunts and uncles. The others let out howls of laughter at my question, attracting the attention of about two or three tables.

"Don't freak out Krys," Brooke chuckled. "The only reason that you could even consider those kids her aunts and uncles is her dad."

"Yep, Dad's their brother," Monica added casually. "He's a son of Aphrodite. So, like I said, they're technically my aunts and uncles. Nobody really acts on that though. Actually, nobody really even acknowledges it."

"Then why'd you say it?' I asked, calming down slightly.

"Because I wanted to see how you'd react to it," she grinned.

"That's mean." Shrugging and giggling, she sat down with the others at another table.

"Hey," I started, sitting with them, "didn't you guys say that dinner was starting?"

"Yeah," Charlotte said, putting her chin into her hands.

"Then why isn't there any food?" I asked, pointing at a table with only plates, cups, and silverware.

"We have to wait for the instructors and directors," Zach explained.

"Who are they?"

"Just the camp teachers and people in charge of this place," Brooke said. "Actually," she added, perking up, "there they are now." Following her gaze, I saw a group of about ten or so adults, including Annabeth and Tanya walking toward the dining area. Oddly, most of them slightly resembled the mix-bloods. Behind them were Chiron, who was back in his centaur form, and some short, chubby guy in running shorts and a leopard print shirt.

"Hey guys, who's the hatless garden gnome?" I asked. The kids broke out into silent laughing fits and horribly suppressed smiles as the group walked into the pavilion and sat at a table at the head of the area. "Seriously, who is he?" I giggled.

"Um, Krys," Nick snickered, "that uh, "hatless garden gnome" is actually our camp director."

"Are you serious?" I choked.

"Yep," Caleb answered. "And, unless you want to become a bush, don't ever let him hear you say that."

"Um, thanks for the warning. Can he really turn me into a bush?"

"You bet."

"Yikes. Okay, somebody needs to remind me to never insult the midget," I joked, receiving howls from the others. Their laughs were quickly silenced though by Chiron's hoof pounding on the ground, along with everybody else's conversations. All eyes had turned to Chiron.

"Welcome demigods," he started. "I am pleased to see that so many old faces have returned, along with a few new ones. We have just a few announcements, if all of your stomachs can bear to wait a few more minutes." A collective groan rose from the crowd of kids, met only by the smiles of the instructors. "Now, now, I won't force you to wait too long. First off, given that many other half-bloods will still be settling in at the end of this week, there will be no capture the flag. Second, we have a new camper joining us today. I would like you all to meet Krystol Lore." Chiron waved his hand toward me, and a second later Brooke and Monica had pushed me to my feet so that I could be seen by the campers. Seeing all of their faces focused on me, I felt like shrinking down to the size of an ant and crawling into a hole. The way they all looked at me, it was like they were expecting some heroic feat or something from me. After a few seconds, Brooke tapped my leg, signaling that I could sit. Before I was out of eye sight though, I caught quite a few looks of worry from the campers and even some of the instructors, although one of the adults, a man with short black hair and bright green eyes, just glanced at the sky with a slightly annoyed expression. "Yes, to continue," Chiron went on, though his voice was now full of concern, "we have a few visitors here with us. The members of California's Aphrodite cabin have joined us. They will be here with us until further notice."

"No offense to you Californians, but why are they here, Chiron?" The question had come from one of the blonde kids I'd seen playing volleyball against Charlotte, Monica, and Zach. A murmur off agreement swept through the pavilion.

Raising his hand, Chiron waited for the voices to fade before continuing. "Certain circumstances have come along that provide the need to bring all of Aphrodite's children here. For those of you who are aware of the events that have taken place over the last month, those are the circumstances that have brought these campers to us." I watched as Brooke's expression darkened, along with a few others, as the other mix-bloods looked anywhere but at her. "As for those of you who do not know, I encourage you not to ask. This is not the place, nor the time, to speak of these events. Well, I believe that that is all for announcements. Without any further waiting, let us eat." Grabbing his cup, he raised it toward the sky, mirrored by everybody else, and shouted "To the gods!" A loud echo rang throughout the hall as the half-bloods shouted after him. Then a mix of satyrs and elfish-looking girls walked into the pavilion, carrying trays loaded with all kinds of food: berries, fish, breads, steak, vegetables, even pizza. The platters were passed around the tables, all of the campers piling their plates high with the steaming food. After filling my plate, I was about to dig in when somebody tapped my arm. Looking up, I saw Brooke standing next to me, holding her plate, as the others walked up to a fire that had been lit in the middle of the dining area.

"Come on," she urged. "We have to make an offering."

"A what?" I asked.

"Just bring your plate," she smiled. "You'll see." Getting closer to the fire, I saw that kids were dropping bits of their meals into the fire before walking off to eat.

"What are they doing?" I asked Brooke.

"Making their offerings," she whispered. "The gods like the smell."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep, just drop in something good, then you can go back and eat."

"Um, okay."

I watched as Brooke scooped two of her strawberries into the flames and murmured something about Athena and Poseidon. Walking past me, she gave an encouraging smile and nodded to me. Stepping up to the blaze, I picked out my bread roll. Unsure of what Brooke had said when she'd made her offering, I simply whispered with questioning in my voice, "To my father?" before tossing the roll into the fire. I guess I was expecting to smell food burning to a crisp, but the smell was way worse. An acrid, rotting stench washed over me, making me nearly drop my plate. I could've sworn that I was going puke right there. Looking up, I saw a girl who from the Aphrodite cabin who looked about eleven standing on the other side of the fire, eyeing me with concern. She opened her mouth to say something, but I whirled around before she had the chance to say anything and walked back to the table, hoping that nobody else had noticed. Sitting down, I decided not to tell my friends about the smell. Maybe that had just been a sign from my father. But what god sent a sign that smelled worse than a week old dead fish that had been rotting in a city dump?

After another hour of joking and eating, Chiron pounded his hoof against the floor, silencing the campers once more. "Another fine feast, I must say. Now that we've all eaten, you may all make your way down to the campfire," he said, his voice booming across the pavilion. As the campers started standing and walking out of the hall, he called out again. "I would like Brooke and Nick Jackson and Alex DiAngelo to join us up here though."

"Great, what did you guys do this time?" somebody teased.

"Lemme guess," somebody else shouted, "you blew up some important building in the city?"

"No!" Brooke retorted. "I jacked some dude's taxi and they smuggled Greek fire into a mortal school." A mix of gasps, applause, whistles, and shouts echoed through the hall, cut off by Chiron slamming his hoof against the ground and telling us to go to the amphitheater. I kept looking back in forth between the leaving campers and the three cousins, who were walking toward Chiron and the adults, unsure of what to do. Then I felt someone grab my wrist. I whipped around to see Caleb, the other three standing just behind him.

"Come on," he grinned, "we'll take you down there. Who knows when those three will be able to get there?"

Walking into the amphitheater, I found all of the kids sitting on the stone benches, each of the cabins clustered beneath a different banner. I was lead over to a spot near the edge of the rows, a simple white banner with a mountain shrouded in clouds sewn onto it waved in the gentle breeze above us. After about five minutes, a massive bonfire was lit and about eight kids walked to the center of the amphitheater, holding guitars and lyres. I felt somebody tap my shoulder, and I looked over to see Monica smiling and leaning closer to me, like we were five-year-olds sharing our first secret.

"Those are the Apollo kids. Their dad is the god music, so it's only natural for them to lead the sing-alongs. Oh, just a warning," she whispered, her eyes darting to make sure nobody was watching or listening in, "the songs we sing here might sound kinda corny, but just go with it. They're actually pretty entertaining."

"Thanks for the heads up."

"No prob."

About half an hour later, I was laughing with the four of them as if I'd known them all my life. The campers were singing all sorts of songs about stuff that made no sense to me, but Monica was right, it was really entertaining to watch them sing together and sort of dance as if they were all brothers and sisters. Brooke, Nick, and Alex ran up to us and sat down, panting but still grinning.

"Where were you?" Zach half shouted over the noise.

"KP, we got in trouble," Alex called back.

"Of course you did," Charlotte joked. "You three are always in trouble." Smiling, they all turned back and took up the song that the Apollo kids had started. About another ten songs were called out before everybody left for their cabins, including one where everybody had jumped up and started hopping in front of the fire while singing as the flames turned near white and soared at least twenty feet into the air.

Walking back, I was still howling with laughter with the others, completely forgetting about the attacks and fear of the day. We all stumbled into the cabin, still trying to calm down when Charlotte spoke up. "Hey," she said breathlessly, "whose bag is that?" Looking around, I found a small suitcase and a trunk shoved against one of the empty beds. The bed was also now made, sheets covering the mattress and a sleeping bag rolled out on top of those.

"Ah yes, I see you've found Ms. Lore's luggage," someone said behind us. Spinning around, I saw Chiron standing outside the door. "Krystol, your mother dropped these off for you during dinner. She also said to be careful and that she loves you."

"Aw, that's so cute," Caleb teased, followed by the sniggers of the others. Glaring at him, I walked to my trunk, feeling my face grow warm.

"Yes, well Krystol will be staying here for the night. Hopefully, we will have better luck in the morning. Sleep well, children," Chiron said, stepping away from the cabin and walking away.

Once I was sure he was out of earshot, I asked, "What was he talking about when he said "we will have better luck in the morning"?"

"Oh, that," Brooke started, sounding nervous. Turning around, I saw the others shuffling away, looking a bit edgy. "Um, he was just talking about the claiming. Since you weren't claimed today, he was just saying that you should be tomorrow."

"Oh, well that makes sense," I said before turning back to my stuff. Part of me was disappointed that my father hadn't claimed me. Another part was sort of happy because I got to stay with my friends. Still, one small part of me was overjoyed. The way that Mom had talked about my father scared me. She'd never been one to really talk about him in the first place, but I'd never heard her like that. What was so horrible about him that Mom would talk like that? She'd called him a monster, had said his heart was a black hole and that he had absolutely no emotion. If he really was like that, then I wasn't too sure if I wanted anything to do with him. I started randomly shuffling through my stuff, seeing what Mom had packed for me. Absently, I laid a notebook on the floor, meaning to grab it when I got up.

"Hey," I heard Nick say, "what's that Krys?"

"Huh?" I asked, not sure what he was talking about.

"That notebook you just laid on the ground, what is it."

"Oh!" I started, finally catching on to what he was saying. I scrambled to grab it, tossing it onto my bed where the others couldn't see it as well. "It's nothing, just something I use every now and again." More like almost every night, I thought. The notebook was just a dream journal. Somehow, it helped me to write down what I dreamt about. It calmed my nerves and sometimes helped me figure out what the dream was. About fifteen minutes later, we'd all changed into pajamas and were either rolling into our beds or climbing to the bunks. Since the dual beds I had were both empty, I could have had either. Instead of taking a top bed like most kids would have, I took the bottom. I wasn't terrified of heights, I just liked being as close to the ground as possible. I just felt safer that way. After everybody had called out a goodnight to each other and another half hour of attempting to stay awake, I slipped into the grasp of sleep. That's when the dreams started.

Let's just say that I absolutely hate dreams, especially mine. I almost always had nightmares, or at least strange dreams that made no sense. I hated it. When all of the girls at school had talked about dreams of princesses, family vacations, and apparently really cute unicorns, I got dreams about all kinds of horrible things, most of them relating to history. Tonight, I had a bad feeling that I would end up with more than what I usually got.

I was standing on a grassy hill surrounded by a forest of pine trees, the smell of salt water wafting in on the breeze. _Massachusetts_ I knew. Don't ask me how, but I almost always know where my dreams are at. I watched as men, women, and children trudged up to the top of the hill. The men were dressed in breeches, white long-sleeved shirts, vests that covered their torsos, and black shoes. The women and girls wore long, plain dresses down to their ankles, lightly colored bonnets, and the same old style of black shoes as the men. _Okay, colonial Massachusetts _I corrected myself. I followed the colonists up the hill, though none of them noticed me. When I got to the hilltop, I almost screamed in horror. Sat on top of the hill was a gallows, ropes swinging from its frame. At the structures base sat a girl who couldn't have been more than sixteen. Her hands were bound and she had at least three guards standing around her. Her skin was a sallow yellow, like she'd been starved and stuck in jail for months. Her raven hair fell limply across her bent head, hiding her face from view. Instantly, I knew what was going on._ The Salem Witch Trials_ I thought. I'd had a few others like this over the last couple of years, but they always stopped when I saw the gallows, this one kept going. As the colonists gathered around, the girl was yanked to her feet and practically dragged up the steps to the platform where a rope was placed around her neck.

_Have you any last words, demon?_ a man on the platform asked the girl.

The girl looked up. Her face was pale and sunken, huge purple bags lying beneath her eyes. Although she had obviously been imprisoned for months, her dark eyes shone brightly with defiance. _Have I any words?_ she spoke slowly. _All I have to say is that you have wrongly convicted me. I will not beg for your forgiveness, nor will I cry out that I be freed. I know I will not change what all of you before me think. But, as I am condemned to certain death now, I suppose that the truth will not hurt any of you. I am no witch. I stand firmly to that. I will say, however, that I have been a practitioner of magic. Let it be known that you have not killed a true witch on this day. I am no witch. I am simply Melissa Craws, demigod daughter to the great Hecate, goddess of magic!_ she cried. At this, I saw the section of wood below Melissa Craws fall away.

I sat bolt upright in my bed, gasping for breath. My dream had ended before I could see Melissa fall, but I still knew what had happened. I could feel my throat tightening, just as hers would have. Looking around, I could make out that the others were still sleeping. My bed was a complete mess. The sheets were pulled up off the mattress in some areas, my sleeping bag was halfway off of the bed, and somehow my pillow had managed to travel from my bed to the floor, lying at least five feet away. Quietly, I got up and grabbed my pillow, walking back to bunk quickly. It was still pitch black outside and couldn't have been any later than two in the morning. Trying to calm down, I wrapped my arms around my pillow and curled up as tightly as I could into a ball, trying to salvage a decent night's sleep. Apparently, my dreams didn't agree with me.

I was standing in an open field dotted and ringed by small trees. The leaves were waving in the wind. I heard playful screams and turned to find two children, a boy and a girl, running after each other. The girl looked about ten or eleven years old, the boy looked about eight. They both had rich honey-blonde hair and vibrant eyes. The pair oddly reminded me of the kids I'd seen playing volleyball against the mix-bloods. The girl was dressed in a light blue, button up dress that went just past her knees, white and blue matching socks, and plain black shoes. The boy was wearing a long sleeved white shirt tucked into dark brown shorts, knee high white socks, and simple black shoes. _Late 1930s _I knew. I could feel the heat beating down on my head and see yellow leaves rolling in the breeze across the plain. _August or September_ I guessed, given the weather. I looked at the landscape again, and the place hit me: Poland. Glancing back at the running children, I realized that they were brother and sister. For some reason, I also knew that they were demigods._ Athena's children_ my gut said. Watching them play, I wanted to smile, but I couldn't. Though the kids were running as if it were just any average day, something felt wrong. It was like the entire clearing was holding its breath. The shadows casted by the trees no longer looked comforting, but cold and malicious. The leaves didn't look like they were dancing now, but more like they were trying to escape. I heard a rumble in the distance. It started low and quiet, like a light buzz, and was almost masked by the wind. The kids hadn't seemed to have taken notice. The little boy had stopped to catch his breath; his sister was skipping through the field and chasing a butterfly. The sky seemed to darken, the sound grew louder, and the faint odor of gas filled the air. The boy looked up, finally noticing that something wasn't right. He tore through the field, desperately trying to catch up to his laughing sister.

_Lacey! _he screamed. Something was beyond wrong. I could feel it in my stomach. I started sorting through what I already knew. _Late 1930s, September, Poland._ Then it hit me. I wanted to collapse. I wanted to scream and shriek at the children to leave before it was too late. But I knew I couldn't, my dreams had never let me before. I was only permitted to watch. I watched as the little boy drew closer to Lacey. She'd finally looked away from the butterfly when her brother had called her name.

_What's wrong James? _she asked. Then her head began turning, like she was finally picking up on the noise. I saw her nose wrinkle and her face bunch up in disgust at the gas smell that was now thick.

_Lacey, what's happening? _James cried, tugging at his sister's arm.

_I don't know_ she replied, wrapping her arms around James. Then the ground began to shake. Roars spread across the field and sky, the gas was so thick and heavy that I wanted to throw up; the tree line at the edge of the field began to quiver. A second later, planes burst into view: hundreds of them, filling almost every inch of space in the blue sky, sailed through the air. Though the planes were too far away to identify the type, I could still make out the black swastikas emblazoned on their tails. The rumbling turned into a deafening roar as the ground shuddered violently. I saw the kids hunched over on the ground, desperately holding each other. Then, out of the trees burst dozens of huge tanks. War trucks pulled through the field after the tanks, full of German soldiers. Two-seater motorcycles rode alongside the trucks, armed with two soldiers and heavy artillery. After them poured in hundreds, maybe thousands of foot troops, a mass that spread as far as the eye could see. _The invasion of Poland_ I knew. Lacey finally scrambled up, pulling her brother with her, and raced across the field. I knew she was too late. A German motorcyclist had seen her and was now navigating through the bumpy field, chasing the children down. I saw the man in the side car lock and load his gun, then aim for the children. My vision blanked out just after I heard the bullets fired.

I shot up in my bed again, drenched in sweat and shaking beyond control. I could feel warm tears falling down my cheeks. Of course, I hadn't seen it happen, but I still knew the fate of Lacey and James. I slammed my fist into my pillow. It just wasn't fair. Kids younger than me had been killed, and I had just been forced to watch it. Anger and fear welled up in me, spilling out with my silent tears. I gripped my pillow as hard as I could, nails biting into the fabric, and buried my face in it to keep from shouting. It was still too early to get up without bugging anyone (it was only about 4:30 a.m.) so I couldn't just walk or do anything really to distract myself. On the plus side (if there was one), that had been my second dream for the night. I'd never had more than two dreams a night in my life. Slowly, I managed to calm down, and, after another half-hour, I fell asleep again.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark alleyway. I wanted to scream like a banshee. It was another stupid dream. Since when had my mind decided that it could give me three dreams in a single night? I wanted to wake up. I wanted to scream, I wanted to start smacking or pinching myself again, I wanted to do anything that would get me out of this twisted dimension. But, of course, my dreams don't allow such freedom. Then I heard voices. They were soft and whispering, higher pitched like a female's. I could make out two voices. Looking down the alley, I saw two figures outlined by the deep shadows around them. I also picked out a polluted, dank smell. I saw buildings rising up high all around the alley, dumpsters lining the backs of the structures. I could hear the little patter of rats running in the shadows. _New York City. _I was home. The girls kept walking toward me, their hushed voices still speaking fast. When they were about thirty feet away, I could finally pick out what they were saying.

_-didn't have to come _one of the girls said. She was slightly taller than the other girl. Her hair was light, although I couldn't make out its color in the darkness of the damp alley.

_Of course I had to come. You know that thing is after Athena's kids now. I don't even know how you managed to persuade Chiron and the adults to let you leave _the other girl said. Even in my dream, where nothing really makes sense to me until I wake up, the girl's voice sounded familiar to me.

_Don't worry about how I manage to get out _the taller girl laughed.

_Kasey, I really don't think you should be joking. And I really don't think it's safe for you to be leaving the camp._

_It's one day Brooke._

_I don't care Kasey! You know that thing is on the move. You know it killed Chase like six months ago. It'll go after any Athenian that it can find. And if you're out here, you're practically a sitting duck._

_Brooke, I'm thirteen and I've spent the last two years training at camp. I can take care of myself. I'll be back to camp before ten o'clock tomorrow. I promise you don't have to worry about me. Thanks for coming home with me though._

Brooke gave a shaky sigh. _Fine. You're welcome. Just promise me you'll leave as soon as anything happens._

_Nothing's going to happen, but I promise. I'll see you later._

_Bye._ Kasey left the alley, rounding the corner and disappearing into New York. Brooke sighed again before turning to walk off. Then a loud snort sounded just outside the alley, followed by a low roar and a heavy thud. Brooke whipped around at the sound and ran to edge of the alley where Kasey had just been. She looked around the corner, but stumbled back into the shadows a second later. She had her hands over her mouth, blocking any noise from escaping. Her whole body was shaking, and her face was covered in an absolutely horrified look. She was holding her breath and standing completely still, as if she were hiding from something. I moved to the edge of the alley next to her. Just as I was about to peek around the corner to see what had happened, an ear-splitting scream snapped me back to the real world.

**Ha ha, cliffy. Hope you enjoyed it, hope you review it, yada yada, and all that good stuff. Once again, tell me if they've gone Sue or Stu on me. If you have any questions or ideas, you probably know what to do, so yeah, go ahead. Well, that's about it, see yah. R&R please!**


	6. Training, Playing, And A Stupid Claiming

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

I sat bolt upright as screams filled the cabin, my arms and legs flailing beneath my sleeping bag. I saw Caleb hurl himself up, slamming the back of his head into the bed above him. Charlotte rolled over sluggishly, attempting to fall into a crouch but slamming her shoulders and back against the bunk above her and falling back onto her bed. Zach flailed for about two seconds before popping himself up. Somehow though, he managed to throw himself high enough to slam into the low roof. Monica snapped hear eyes open, letting out a shrill squeak before rolling forward into a defensive position and launching off her top bunk, landing face first on the ground. Nick, on a bottom bunk, lashed out with his foot, nailing the boards holding the mattress above him. Grabbing his ankle and shouting, he rolled to the floor, landing on his feet hunched over. A second later, Alex fell out of the bunk over Nick, landing on top of his cousin and sending them both sprawling to the ground. Still swinging wildly, I slipped off my bed and crashed to the ground, my sleeping bag and pillow dropping on top of me. Pulling my sleeping bag away from my face, I found that Brooke was the only one who'd managed not to fly out of bed. Still, she looked worse than all of us. Her face was pale and beaded with sweat, part of her ratty hair sticking to its sides. Her entire body was shaking violently, like she was having a spaz attack. Her breathing had turned to something between a strangled gasp and a choked cry. Her arms were wrapped tight around her bent knees. Her face was contorted with terror and anguish while her eyes were full of tears.

"Dang, Brooke, thanks for the wakeup call," Charlotte grumbled, rubbing her shoulder. Murmurs of agreement passed around the cabin as the others rubbed sore spots and picked themselves up off of the floor, completely unaware of what was going on with Brooke.

Shoving Alex off of himself, Nick pulled his legs underneath him, rubbing his ankle. He looked up at Brooke, opening his mouth to say something, but his jaw dropped before he could think of anything to tell her. His face changed from annoyance to complete concern. "Brooke," he whispered. Within seconds, he had raced across the room and was on his sister's bed, hugging her tightly, green eyes intensely focused on her face. "What's wrong?"

Hearing him, Monica turned her head to the pair, her face instantly softening. Within a few more moments, the entire cabin had taken notice and gathered around Brooke's bed. Quietly, I made my way over to them. I bent over to pick up Brooke's pillow that had managed to fly about seven feet from her bed. Grabbing it, I heard a rustle. Looking under the pillow, I found a small piece of paper with writing scrawled all over it, some parts of it more faded than others. For some reason, I folded the paper into a tiny square, hiding it in my hand as I grabbed her pillow and walked up to her, laying the pillow at the foot of the bed.

"Maybe we should get Chiron or one of the instructors down here," Caleb suggested. Zach was half way to the door when Brooke spoke up.

"No, I'm fine," she whimpered, detaching her brother and rubbing her slightly red eyes.

"Are you sure? We can get Chiron, Brooke. Really it's no-," Caleb started.

"I'm fine Caleb, I promise," she insisted, her voice still slightly higher than usual.

"Um, okay, if you say so," he replied slowly as Zach hesitantly wandered away from the door.

Taking a deep breath, Brooke pulled herself out of her tangled sleeping bag, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and stood on shaky legs. Looking at the rest of us, she gave a half-hearted smile. "Come on," she started, "we've gotta get this place cleaned up for inspection before breakfast. That and I'm pretty sure that at least some of us still need a shower." Brooke moved to start pulling sheets and sleeping bags back onto beds when Monica caught her arm.

"Why don't you go ahead and take a shower," Monica suggested. "We can clean this all up."

"Are you sure?" Brooke asked.

"Yes Mother, we can clean our bedroom all on our own," Alex said sarcastically.

"Shut up."

"Aw, Mommy, that's not a very nice thing to say," Alex toyed, making the other boys snicker.

"Alex, I told you to shut up," Brooke growled, even though a small grin was starting to spread across her lips.

"But Mommy-," he started.

"Alexander DiAngelo!" Brooke shouted, a smile covering her face.

"Aw, did I make Mommy mad?" Alex grinned, as the boys busted out laughing and the girls attempted to hide giggles.

"Yes, and if you don't shut it, Mommy's gonna hang you by your toes over the climbing wall," Brooke joked as she turned around and opened her trunk, fishing out a pair of clothes, some hair stuff, and a brush before walking into a bathroom at the end of the cabin.

"You're a mean mommy!" Alex called before she closed the door.

"Get over it!" she shouted back through the door. "And Caleb's in charge until I get out."

"What, you don't trust us not to have somebody in charge for ten minutes?" Nick yelled back.

"Are you crazy? There's no way in Hades I'd let you go without a leader for even two minutes!"

"I thought you said you guys weren't always this crazy," I whispered to Monica.

"We aren't _always_ this crazy, just most of the time," she whispered back.

"Wonderful," I mumbled under my breath.

"Okay," Caleb spoke up, "let's get a move on. The last thing we need is to be known as the messiest place here before camp even really starts."

"Wait, camp hasn't started yet?" I asked, wondering what the heck they were all doing here if camp hadn't even begun.

"Nope, not yet it hasn't. Camp officially starts tomorrow. That's when everybody's out of school," Charlotte explained.

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Our school area doesn't technically get out of school until today, remember? We were supposed to have a half-day today."

"Oh, yeah I remember now. So, is that why Slith tried to kill me yesterday, before school could end and somebody could get me to camp?" I asked as I heard water start in the bathroom.

"Slith? Who's Slith?" Caleb asked, while confused looks were exchanged throughout the entire cabin.

"That monster at my school. She had Chimera with her."

"Oh," Nick said, understanding dawning on his face, "you're talking about Echidna. Yeah, that's probably what she was thinking."

"Your teacher was that witch?" Zach asked as Caleb, Charlotte, and Monica passed around a mixture of amazed and nervous looks.

"Um, yeah, she was my English teacher."

"Dang," Monica muttered, the other three nodding and agreeing with her.

After a few seconds of silence and staring, Caleb finally spoke up again. "Hm, I wonder who sent her after you. Then again, maybe she just found you and thought you'd be a good snack." I gulped nervously at that.

"Yeah, but it seems like Echidna went to a lot of trouble if she was on her own with this," Nick said.

"Who knows," Caleb said, shrugging his shoulders. "Anyway, Krystol's here now, so it doesn't make a difference. Now come on, Brooke will be out in a few minutes and we need to get this place ready for inspection. You two," he pointed at Nick and Alex, "I don't know what you ran into on the way here, but you seriously need a shower. Get a move on it."

"Do we seriously smell that bad?" Alex asked, looking down at himself.

"Yes," the others chorused. Rolling their eyes and grumbling, the boys grabbed clothes from their trunks and stalked out the door.

"Breakfast's in half an hour, so hurry up!" Caleb shouted after them.

"Where are they going?" I asked

"To the camp's bathrooms, there are some showers in there," Zach explained.

"Oh."

"Alright, let's pick this place up," Caleb said, turning back to us. "Char, Monica, why don't you head down to the bathrooms and get changed and do whatever else girls need to do. Zach and I will head down when Brooke's out, OK?"

"Fine by me," Charlotte said, popping her trunk open and rooting around in it.

"What about Krystol?" Monica asked as she turned to her case.

"I think it'd be better if we kept her here for a bit longer," Caleb answered. "You all remember last night, don't you? It'd be better to avoid any possible questions, especially those that we don't have the answers to. She can just clean up after Brooke comes out. I mean," he turned to me, "if you're okay with that."

"Oh, yeah that's fine," I said.

"Okay, just don't let the boys boss you around," Monica smiled, grabbing some clothes and a makeup box.

"Yeah," Charlotte put in, "Caleb likes to turn into a jerk when Brooke puts him in charge."

"I do not!" Caleb objected, his face turning bright red.

"Sure you don't," Charlotte said sarcastically as she walked past him with a pile of clothes and a brush. Caleb mumbled something under his breath as the two girls walked toward the door. Before either of them could open it, somebody knocked on it. As Monica opened it, I caught sight of a girl about ten-years old with elfish features, light brown hair, and bright eyes as green as spring leaves.

"Chiron asked me to bring these down here," the girl said, holding out a new pair of tennis shoes, jeans, and an orange shirt. "He said they're for Krystol Lore."

"Oh, sweet," Monica said. Grabbing the clothes from the girl, she turned and tossed the pile to Caleb, who tossed them to me. "Thanks kiddo," she told the girl, who smiled and skipped off across the lawn. Monica and Charlotte walked out, letting the door swing close behind them.

"What are these for?" I asked, looking through the pile Chiron had sent.

"Just some extra clothes. The shirt's our camp shirt. You don't always have to wear it, but it just goes with everything. The jeans are just for extra. Trust me, you'll want extra clothes. The shoes, I'm assuming, are to replace those," Caleb said, pointing to my torn, slightly burnt, half-melted tennis shoes.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with that too," Zach said, staring at my shoes.

"Come on, we've got a cabin to clean," Caleb said, turning away and picking up the sleeping bag that had slipped off of his bed, Zach following to his own bed. About five minutes later, our three beds made it look like nothing had happened, not a single piece of trash was on the floor, and most of the other sheets, pillows, and sleeping bags had been thrown onto their owners' beds. I heard the water turn off in the bathroom as I walked toward Brooke's still messed up bed. I reached over to start putting it back together for her when somebody's hand shot out a wrapped around my wrist. Snapping my head up, I yanked my hand toward me, feeling the hand falling from my wrist, and snapped it back as a fist to where the hand had come from to find Caleb's quivering hand holding my clenched fist inches from his face. "Nice reflexes," he said, dropping my hand. "Sorry if I spooked ya, but it's not a good idea to touch Brooke's stuff. She's got her mom's temper."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Let's just say," Zach broke in, walking toward us, "that we've heard rumors that Annabeth used to keep a knife under her pillow when she was a camper here that she reserved solely for monsters and anybody who touched her stuff."

"Are you serious?" I asked, glancing nervously at Brooke's bed.

"That's what I heard," he replied, Caleb nodding in agreement.

"Okay, that's a bit freaky," I said, backing away from her bed.

"What is?" Brooke asked, walking out of the bathroom and brushing her hair.

"Nothing," Caleb said, shifting his eyes downward.

"What did you tell her, Caleb?"

"I just told her not to touch your stuff. Zach's the one who brought up that old rumor."

"You told her _that_? Guys come on, she's a complete newbie and you tell her that of all things."

"Wait a second," I interrupted, "that rumor's true?"

"The one about Mom keeping a dagger under her pillow when she was a kid? Yeah, it's real," she answered easily, as if it were something she'd grown up with. Then again, considering what I'd seen from her… "You should probably get a shower now, Krys, before breakfast starts. And why don't you two head out to the bathrooms, too."

"You got it, boss," Zach teased.

Sighing, Brooke rolled her eyes before tossing her brush into her trunk and starting to fix her bed. "Where are the others?"

"Down at the bathrooms, they're just freshening up," Caleb answered, pulling stuff out of his case and walking out the door with Zach.

"Hurry up! I don't feel like being late to breakfast," she called after them. Turning back to me, she smiled. "Did you plan on hopping in the shower soon, or do you want to go through camp all day smelling like sweat and monster slime?"

"Um, I think I'll take that shower," I laughed. Grinning widely, she went back to fixing her bed. I grabbed the clothes Chiron had sent and walked to the bathroom. Before I closed the door, I turned back to Brooke. "Um, Brooke, I noticed something. You just got out of the shower, but your hair is completely dry. How exactly did you do that, especially since I didn't hear you using a dryer or anything?"

Smiling and half laughing, Brooke answered, "It's a gift of those related to Poseidon. We don't get wet unless we want to."

"Yep, and she's pretty dang lucky for it," Monica said as she and Charlotte walked in, followed by Nick and Alex, all of who were wearing the same orange t-shirt. "So is he," she said, pointing over her shoulder at Nick.

"Yep, we get the gift to not get wet and the poor part-Aphrodite girl doesn't," Nick teased, only to be tackled to the ground by Monica. Alex and Charlotte let out laughs, goading the two on as Brooke sighed and walked over to them. Before I could see what she would do, I decided to close the door.

Looking in the bathroom mirror, I was completely shocked. It was like I had changed in less than a day. My face was covered with dirt and weird, dry slime. I had a cut about an inch long running across my cheek where Slith had hit me, dried blood caked around it. My hair was coated with dust and slightly singed on the ends. My arms were spotted with tiny scratches. My eyes had also changed. The gold rings were a little wider and definitely brighter. The purple glints no longer flashed in and out, but were now constantly there and more distinct. Oddly, I didn't look like the scared little kid I'd been feeling like. I looked calm and patient, like I'd been living through this my whole life. Sighing, I turned away from the mirror and got in the shower.

Ten minutes later, I was dressed in the clothes Chiron had sent and my hair was wrapped up in a towel. All of the dirt and grime had been washed off of me to reveal slightly pale skin. Still, my eyes and hair were bright. The scratches hardly seemed to even exist now, although the one on my face was still a dull red. Shrugging, I grabbed the paper I'd found under Brooke's pillow that I'd left on the counter. Smoothing it out, I started reading it:

**Child Age Years after war Relation**

Ivory Kint 3 4 Hades

Lacey Moore 2 4 Zeus

Kate Crosse 4 5 Poseidon

Logan Ridgeman 11 5 Hermes

James Blunt 14 5 Apollo

Jacob Brush 13(26) 5 Satyr

Marcus Crisp 14 10 Ares

Brenda Tuke 12 10 Hephaestus

Leon Opum 13 11 Dionysus

May Jasset 11 12 Hunter

Jewel Bloom 10 13 Demeter

Chase Pilfer 15 14 Nemesis

Kasey Marrlet 13 15 Athena

"What the heck…" I trailed. Then somebody pounded on the door, making me squeak and jump about a foot in the air.

"Hey Krystol are you almost done in there?" I heard Caleb shout.

"Oh yeah, I'll be out just as soon as I get over the mini heart attack you just gave me!"

"Alright, but make it fast. Breakfast starts in a few minutes and we half-bloods generally don't enjoy being late to most things concerning food."

"Whatever. I'll be out soon." Flipping the paper over, I saw more writing. Shaking my head, I folded the paper up and stuffed it into my pocket, figuring that I could read it later. Pulling my hair out of the towel, I picked up a brush and started yanking it through my damp hair. Three minutes later, I walked out of bathroom to find the others talking to each other or lying on their beds, except for Brooke. She was digging through the chest at the foot of her bed. Her bed was slightly ruffled and loose, like she'd searched through it too and threw it back together fast. Growling in frustration, she slammed the trunk's lid down, making everybody flinch.

"What are you looking for over here?" Monica asked, walking up to Brooke.

"It's a paper. I thought I put it under my pillow last night, but I can't find it now," she answered.

"Wait a second," Zach started, "you've been searching for, like, ten minutes for a piece of paper?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Brooke mumbled, standing up and dusting her hands off.

"Um, you are aware of the fact that there's more than one piece of paper in the world, right?"

"Oh, shut up Zach!" she said, hurling her pillow at him.

Catching it easily, he kept going. "Well, I'm just saying Brooke; there is more than one piece of paper out there."

"I know," she snapped. "I just want that paper because it had important stuff on it."

"Like what?" Nick asked, crawling off of his bed.

"None of your business," Brooke hissed, glaring at Nick with eyes of cold steel.

"Fine," he said calmly, returning an equally terrifying look. He turned around and took a step back to his bed before stopping and looking back at his sister. "It's that paper that you keep all of your notes on isn't it, the one with all the names and when they died and all the other stuff?" I shivered as understanding and horror hit my mind. If they were talking about the paper I found, then all of those kids were… I didn't even want to think about it.

"I said that it wasn't your business," Brooke said slowly, taking a step toward Nick. Turning around completely to face her, Nick pulled a pen out of his pocket. _Yeah, that's really intimidating kid _I thought. Given that everybody else had wide eyes and nervous looks, I didn't think that they agreed with me. "Oh please, do you really think that if I were even stupid enough to fight you in the cabin that you'd be able to win?"

"I'm not afraid of you Brooke," he growled back, his eyes growing dark as gray mixed into the green. "Just because everybody else is terrified of you when you've got a sword doesn't mean I am. Besides, all I did was ask you what was on that paper. And given how you're reacting, I'd say my guess was right."

"Shut up Nick!" Brooke thundered, yanking out a pen of her own that she somehow turned into a sword and pointing it at her brother. Everybody in the cabin let out gasps and small screams, backing up to walls and ducking behind bedposts and trunks, leaving Brooke and Nick facing off in the middle of the room. Leaping off of his bunk, Alex jumped in between the two, holding out is arms like he thought he could actually make them stop fighting.

"Guys come on, please don't do this, not here!" he begged.

"Alex, stay out of this," Brooke whispered, her voice calm but threatening.

"Look, guys-," he tried again.

"Alex, move," Nick growled, his pen transforming into a wicked sharp sword that could have been the twin to Brooke's. Alex opened his mouth to say something more, but was yanked over to a wall by Zach before he could say anything. I was about to add something to the whole issue before Caleb shook his head, sending me a look that clearly said to shut up unless I wanted to become a shish kabob. Just when I thought the cabin would explode from all of the tension, a conch horn blared in the distance, catching everybody's attention.

"Guys, that's the breakfast alarm," Monica pointed out. "Let's just calm down, put the swords away, and we'll go eat. Guys, please." Stepping forward cautiously, she grabbed Brooke's wrist. "Please Brooke." Brooke glared at Monica for a second before sighing and lowering her arm, her sword turning back into a pen. A second later, Nick followed suit, still staring suspiciously at his sister.

"Fall out," Brooke ordered, walking past her brother like nothing had happened. Hesitantly, the others followed her out the door, Nick and Alex leaving last. Hurrying to catch up with the others, I pulled the paper out of my pocket and stuffed it under Brooke's pillow.

Down at the mess hall, laughter and chatting filled the air. Sitting down at my silent table, I waited as platters full of eggs, toast, bacon, and practically every breakfast item known to man were passed around the tables. Filling up my plate, I went to fire and tossed in part of my meal to my father, met again by the damp, acrid smell from last night. Walking back to the table, I started eating like everybody else. Throughout the entire meal, hardly a single word was spoken. Even though the fight in the cabin was over, the tension between Brooke and Nick was strong. Banging on the floor with his hoof, Chiron called everyone's attention to himself.

"Another wonderful meal I must say," he started. He paused for a second, his eyes flicking to me like he was waiting for something, before continuing. "Now, I would like to remind you all that we must respect each other here, especially those who are in charge."

"Chiron, why do we need to hear about respect?" a kid called out. "We learned about that when we were in kindergarten."

"It is just a reminder, David," he answered.

"Is this about that new nickname for Mr. D that's been going around?" a girl asked.

"What nickname?" another kid shouted, followed by yells from other campers.

"Silence!" Chiron yelled above the noise. "We don't need to spread anymore nicknames around for our camp director."

"It's hatless garden gnome people!" somebody shouted. Nearly choking on a piece of sausage, I started laughing along with the other campers. I'd had no idea that what I'd said last night had spread so far. Shaking his head, Chiron waited for the kids to quiet down before speaking up.

"As I said, we will not be making use of that name or any others made about our directors or instructors. Now, as camp has not officially started, you are not yet required to attend any lessons, although I highly encourage it, especially for any new campers. With that said, you may leave."

People started jumping up from their tables while others sat and started gossiping. Some flew out of the mess hall toward the cabins while more dashed out to the sports courts, lake, and all of the other places throughout the camp. Getting up to follow my friends, I heard Chiron call me over to him. Glancing at Brooke, she nodded to me to go see him.

"I can wait for you," she said. Nodding back, I turned and walked over to the head table.

"Um, hi Chiron," I said nervously. "Did I, uh, do something wrong."

"Oh no child, as far as I've seen, you've done nothing wrong," he assured me. "I was just making a check on you. How has your experience here been so far? Are you enjoying your stay at the camp?"

"Oh yeah, it's awesome!" I answered. "I'll admit, it is a little strange and definitely chaotic, but I think I actually like it a lot. It just feels like…like home away from home."

"Good, it is good to hear that."

"So this must be Krystol Lore," one of the instructors said, walking over with the others following. "It's nice to meet you." The teacher was a tall man. He was well muscled and had a deep tan. His hair was as black as Brooke's, his eyes as green as Nick's. With a start, I realized that this must be their father. "I'm Percy Jackson, by the way, the sword instructor here. I've got the feeling that I'll be seeing you around a lot."

"It's nice to meet you sir," I said back.

"Yes, Krystol, why don't we just introduce you to your other instructors since you are here," Chiron suggested. "Granted, not all of the camp's teachers are here at this time, so these are only some of your teachers. Krystol, I understand that you have already met Tanya and I know that you have already met Annabeth so there is no reason for me to introduce you to them. Now, I would like you to meet Will Solace, Nico DiAngelo, Jadyn Mason, and Chris Rodriguez." Each of the adults nodded to me at the sound of their name.

"Hi," was about all I could get out of my mouth at this point.

"Hey Chiron," Brooke called, "is it okay if we take Krystol back? We were sort of planning on showing her what training here is like."

"Such an impatient child," Chiron mumbled.

"Yeah, I think they both get it from Percy," Annabeth stated, smiling at her husband.

"Krystol, why don't you go with them. It will do you much good to see how things are done here versus throwing you into a world that you barely know," Chiron told me. "Besides, the rest of us have other jobs that we must attend to."

"Um, okay, I guess I'll hang out with those guys then. And it was nice meeting you guys," I smiled, walking back to my friends.

"So how were our parents?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "They seem pretty nice, but we didn't really talk much. Oh, I've got one question."

"Ask away," Monica told me.

"Okay, who the heck decided to volunteer me for early training?" All I got out of them were a bunch of suppressed laughs and evil grins. _Oh boy_ was all I could think of.

Back at the cabin, I was surprised to see somebody wandering through it with a clipboard.

"Oh, hey Jess," Brooke said, standing next to the door to stay out of the girl's way. "Oh, I guess we need a few intros here. Krys, this is Jessica Lindstrom, daughter of Athena and head of her cabin. Jess, this is Krystol Lore."

"Yeah, I remember her from last night. Are you really the one that came up with the hatless garden gnome thing?" Jessica asked me, still walking around the room and probing the beds.

"Well, I was just saying stuff last night but uh, yeah, I called him that," I answered nervously.

"Nice, we definitely needed a new name for Mr. D," she laughed. "Well guys," she walked over to us, "the place looks pretty good. Although you might want to clean the candy wrapper stash under that bed," she said, pointing to Nick's bed. "I'll see you guys later. Oh, if you're all up for it, I think my cabin wants a rematch for volleyball."

"Oh, you are so on, blondie," Monica agreed. Smiling, Jessica walked out the door without another word.

"So you've got a candy wrapper stash, huh?" Brooke said, eyeing Nick. Sighing, he walked over to his bed and started pulling wrappers and chip bags out.

"Hey, for training today, can we go all out?" Charlotte asked, pulling a long spear out from beside her bedpost.

"Sure, but that means everybody needs to wear the armor. The last thing we need is half of the cabin in the infirmary," Brooke answered.

"What are they talking about?" I asked Monica.

"Basically, Charlotte asked if we can rip each other to pieces," she answered cheerfully.

"Excuse me?" I said, slightly terrified.

"I'm kidding," she laughed, rooting through her trunk and pulling out pieces of Greek armor. "You know, you kinda freak out pretty easily."

"Hey, I spent yesterday getting attacked by monsters, seeing centaurs and pegasi, finding out that my friends are a bunch of sword swingers, and being shoved into a world where every Greek myth is real. If you ask me, I'd say I'm allowed to freak out."

"True, I freaked out a bit about this when I found out too."

"So, um, what do they mean when they say all out training?" I glanced over at the others as they strapped armor pieces to their arms, legs, and chests.

"It means we can train as hard as we want. We're allowed to do practically anything in the arena and woods, the lava wall can be set to be harder, we can train in air attacks, that kind of stuff. The armor makes it so we're less likely to kill each other," Monica explained, pulling and strapping on a breastplate.

"Okay, may I say that you guys take this way too seriously?"

"We have to," Nick interrupted. "Either we take this stuff beyond seriously, or we risk getting killed. It's as simple as that."

"Oh, well uh, I guess that makes sense," I said hesitantly. "Wait, if I'm training with you guys today, don't I need some armor or something? You know, I'd rather not become a shish kabob."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Brooke said, pulling a piece of armor over her forearm. "One of the Hephaestus kids told me at breakfast that your armor was ready."

"Already? Dang, those guys worked fast," Zach said.

"Yeah, they said that there wasn't anything else that they were doing. That and there were like six guys there."

"Well that definitely explains the speed."

"Yeah. Hey Krys, if you can wait for me to get the rest of this stuff on, I'll take you down to the forge to get yours," Brooke said.

"Um, okay," I mumbled.

"Actually, I'm ready so I can take her now Brooke," Caleb offered. He was decked out in a full suit of golden Greek armor with his bow slung over his shoulder and a small dagger strapped to his waist.

"If Krys is okay with it, I don't care," she answered.

"'Kay. Did you want to come with me Krystol, or just wait for Brooke?"

"Um, I guess I'll go with you," I answered, following Caleb out the door.

"So, do you like it here so far?" Caleb asked as he led me to the forges.

"Yeah, it feels almost like home to me. I mean, from what I've seen things are a bit crazy here, but I kind of like it," I told him.

"That's good. So, do you have any ideas then?" he asked hesitantly.

"Any ideas about what?"

"I mean about who your dad might be. I'm not trying to be pushy or prying or anything, but, you know, it'd be nice if we could figure out who you are. I mean if we could figure who your father is, not you. Well, I mean we know who you are and that's important, but figuring out who your parent is is really important. Not that finding out who your father is is more important than you. I mean…" he rambled on, his face slowly turning bright red.

"Caleb, you can stop talking if you want," I laughed.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," he mumbled. Walking in silence, we reached the forges after a few minutes. Puffs of smoke spilled out of the high smokestacks as sounds of metal banging on metal filled the air. "After you," Caleb waved me in.

"Thanks." Inside, the forge was covered in weapons, armor, machines, and a ton of scrap metal, just like yesterday. About eight kids were spread out around work tables, fires, and massive blocks of stone.

"Hey Caleb," the nearest boy called.

"Hey Mike," Caleb answered. "Brooke said you guys had the armor she asked for ready."

"Oh yeah, let me get it for you," the boy said.

"Thanks," Caleb called after the kid. "Oh by the way, Krystol, this is the Hephaestus cabin. Hephaestus cabin, this is Krystol Lore."

"Yeah, we saw her yesterday," another boy said, walking up to me and holding out a hand. "I'm Jordan Murthton, head of Hephaestus."

"Hi, I'm Krystol, head of… well nothing really. Unless you could count me being head of myself," I said, grabbing the guy's hand as he grinned at me. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same for you," he said, turning back to a worktable. "Hopefully that armor will fit you. It's kinda hard to get the right fit for brand new kids. You can try it on for size when Mike brings it in."

"Um, thanks, that'd probably be better, especially since I've no clue how to-." I was cut off by an explosion that shook the building and ended with a green mushroom cloud at one of the work tables.

"What was that?" Jordan coughed, covering his mouth and nose as a sulfurous and vinegar smell spread through the room.

"An experiment gone wrong," a girl with pig tails gagged, falling away from the table. "Let's just say that vinegar and Greek fire do not mix."

"Any of us could've told you that one Lea," an older girl complained.

"Sorry," the little girl mumbled.

"My fault," a voice rumbled. "I got her to do it, thought she'd like it." Another figure, this one huge and buff, lumbered from the table. As it turned, I saw huge, bare feet, thick legs covered by grimy jeans, baseball mitt-sized hands, massive arms, crooked teeth, and at the top of it all was one round, brown eye.

"Cyclops!" I screamed, pointing at the creature and stumbling back, tripping over a loose scrap of metal.

"Krystol, chill out!" Caleb shouted, darting to the side to avoid me as I scrambled backwards. "He's a friend!"

"Are you kidding me? You're friends with a Cyclops? I thought they were evil!"

"Some of our brothers are mean, they even try to kill half-bloods sometimes," the Cyclops explained. "Most of us are good though. We help the gods. Make them weapons and armor, sometimes for half-bloods too."

"See Krystol, he's one of the good guys, he's on our side," Caleb said, offering me a hand. Glancing at the Cyclops, I grabbed Caleb's hand and pulled myself up, still watching the Cyclops.

"I am Tyson," the Cyclops said, smiling broadly. "Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Krystol," I answered slowly.

"She's our newest half-blood," Caleb told Tyson. "Brooke and Julius brought her in yesterday."

"Oh, are you friends with Brooke?" Tyson turned to me.

"Yeah, for a few weeks now," I said.

"Wait, Julius was your satyr?" Jordan asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's just that there have been a few rumors going around camp for the last couple of months. It was something about a half-blood that seemed really powerful being found. A few of the rumors mentioned that Julius was the one who found them," he explained.

"Oh, really?" I asked, somewhat stunned. I was powerful?

"Yeah, which could be good. Powerful kids are sort of rare. And given the events of the last couple of decades, they're even harder to find 'cause of the Big Three being all cautious and stuff. But if you are one of their kids, then maybe things aren't as, I don't know, unsteady maybe."

Caleb grunted, catching Jordan's attention and giving him an almost warning look, like he was getting into dangerous territory. "So, where's Mike at with the armor?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Right here," Mike said, walking back into the main room with arms full of shining bronze Greek armor. "You wanna try it on?" he smiled to me.

"Um, sure, thanks," I said, taking the armor from him but dropping most of it on the floor. "Darn it."

"Oh wow Krystol," Caleb sighed, bending over to pick up my scattered armor pieces. "Here," he handed me what looked like a breast plate, "start with this." After about ten minutes of struggling and accidentally trying to shove my arm guard onto my leg, I was completely decked out in ancient armor that could've weighed at least fifty pounds.

"Man," I groaned under the armor's weight as we walked toward the arena, "how do you guys wear this stuff all day?"

"Well we don't wear it all the time, just at certain times," Caleb said.

"Whatever, it's still heavy. And why are we going to the arena? Don't we have to meet up with the others?"

"Yeah, but they're probably already at the arena or heading that way. Come on, let's get a move on." Running off as if he wasn't even wearing any armor, he left me struggling in the dust.

Running sluggishly into the arena, I found about twenty kids scattered around the arena, including the entire mix-blood cabin.

"You know," I gasped, stalking up to Caleb and the others, "you could've waited or at least run a bit slower."

"I could've, but you need to learn how to keep up with the camp's pace," he teased. Growling, I pulled my fist back when a figure stepped out of the arena's shadows and broke in.

"Alright, there's no point in wasting time, start training," Percy Jackson commanded. "Krystol, this is a sword arena. Please reserve any hand-to-hand combat for the wrestling mat." Sniggering, half of the kids walked off toward a rack full of swords and long daggers while the others unsheathed weapons of their own. "Krystol, come with me," Percy said as he walked past me. Following him to the sword rack, we waited until all of the others had left and started drilling and battling. "I'm glad the others brought you out for early training. It gives us trainers some time to figure out your style before camp starts."

"My style?" I repeated.

"Yep, your style. We can figure out if your skills fall to swords, daggers, spears, shields, bows and arrows, basically your weapon of choice. We can also figure out some of your other skills like speed, strength, brains, instincts, senses, if you can drive chariots, fly pegasi, and some other stuff."

"Oh, that's cool. So, you're the sword teacher then?"

"Yeah, that's my job. Now let's see if we can find a sword for you." Turning to the rack, he yanked out a sword about five feet long and four inches wide. "Try this one."

"Looks kind of big," I said, grabbing the sword's hilt. The second Percy let go of it, the blade fell to the ground, nearly pulling my arms out of their sockets with it.

"Yeah, that won't work for you," he said, picking the sword up easily and sliding it back in with the others. Plucking a thin, three foot sword, he handed it off to me.

"Well, I can hold it," I smiled hopefully.

"Swing it," Percy instructed, backing up about five feet. Taking a deep breath, I swung the sword like a baseball bat. Mid-swing, I heard Percy shout "Watch it!" as the sword flew from my hands a second later and spun toward Brooke and Nick. The two barely had time to break apart from their battle and throw themselves to the ground before the sword landed point down in the dirt, quivering within inches of their faces.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Yeah, thanks for trying to kill us," Brooke snorted, climbing to her feet and pulling the sword from the ground. She tossed the sword to her dad, who neatly pulled it out of the air, spinning it around and driving it back into the rack in one fluid motion.

"Well let's not all stop for a flying sword," he called to the campers, most of who were now looking at me or the Jacksons. "Let's get back to work. You came out here for a reason, didn't you?" Turning back to me, he handed me another sword, this one about three feet long and three inches across. Grabbing it, I lifted the sword and slowly moved it, the leather grip pulling on my hand and the heavy point slowly dropping. "How does it feel?"

"I can lift and move it, but it doesn't feel right. It's pulling on my hand a lot and I don't like how it gets heavier at the point."

"Alright, let's try something else." Returning the sword, he stepped back and motioned for me to step up to the rack. "I want you to find a sword that you think will work. I've seen a few newbies over the years come in and find their weapons simply by plucking them from a crate on their own." Swallowing, I moved to the rack and started scanning the blades. After pulling out one or two and half-lifting at least three from the rack, my hand fell on the handle of a sword at the edge of the rack. I could almost feel something sweep through me, pushing me to take the blade. Sliding the weapon from the others, I found a sword that was maybe three-and-a-half feet long, two inches wide, and double-edged. It could've been like any other normal ancient Greek sword, but I could tell it was different. It felt absolutely perfect in my hand, from the heavier hilt to the light, wicked-sharp point. I could see its color was different too, still bronze but paler than the other swords, almost like a light grayish color had been added to it. And it was powerful. I was sure of it. I could almost feel its power and strength, an ancient yet fresh power. In that instant, I knew it had to be mine.

"Did you finally find a sword?" Percy grinned, walking back from helping a few younger kids.

"Yeah, I want this one," I answered, holding the sword up. Immediately, the smile melted off of the instructor's face, along with any signs of happiness in his eyes. A concerned look replaced the grin as I saw what looked like horror, confusion, and, for brief second, pure hatred wash into his bright eyes. Lowering the sword, I took a step back. "Is something wrong? Can I not have this one?"

"It's not that you can't have it," he started, "but are you sure you want _that_ one? There are plenty more to choose from Krystol."

"Yeah, I'm positive I want this one. Why? Is there something wrong with this one?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't off-balanced or something. After all, a battle weapon needs to be as perfect as possible. So, you definitely want that one then?"

"Definitely, this one is all mine," I grinned.

"Well, in that case, come with me. I'll show you some moves and drills." Turning around, he quickly strode off without so much as a glance back to see if I was following, almost like he couldn't wait to get away from me. Or was it the sword he wanted to be away from?

An hour later, I was walking to the archery range with the rest of my cabin. Percy had shown me how to hold and swing a sword and some of the more basic moves that went with it. Throughout the whole session though, I couldn't help but notice how he looked at my sword, almost as if it were some demon. I honestly wasn't sure how I felt when we finally left the arena.

Walking up to the range, I saw about ten kids firing at the targets, most of their shots making perfect bulls-eyes.

"Dang, these guys can shoot," I said.

"They're Apollo's kids, of course they can shoot," Charlotte grumbled.

"You don't sound too happy about that."

"I'm part Ares. Ares and Apollo don't really have a good relationship with each other, and neither do their kids. I mostly just deal with these guys."

"Well, it's not often I see all of you down here willingly," someone said behind us. Spinning around, I saw Will Solace walking towards us with a bow over his shoulder and a quiver full of arrows across his back.

"Hey Dad," Caleb said.

"Hey kiddo. So what are you all doing here?"

"We just thought we'd brush up on our archery and let Krys take a whack at it," Brooke said.

"Alright then," Will smiled. "Why don't you guys go ahead and start, I'll help Krystol out." The others walked off to a row of bows hanging from a wall, leaving me alone with the archery trainer. "So," he started, "I see you've already been to the arena. You got yourself a sword too."

"Yeah, and I think I'm gonna like it," I grinned, lifting the sword still in my hand to show him. On sight, the smile on Will's face melted almost as fast as Percy's had.

"Um, nice sword," he mumbled. Turning around, he walked off toward the wall of bows, leaving me to catch up. "So, let's see if you're an archer."

"If I'm an archer?" I repeated. "I thought half-bloods had natural instincts with weapons and fighting."

"Yeah, they do. But just because you have the instinct doesn't necessarily make you good at it. Take a look at some of these guys for instance," he nodded to the campers. I saw all of the Apollo kids still making perfect shots. The mix-bloods had a different story. All of Caleb's arrows were stuck within the three inner rings of the target. Monica, Charlotte, and Zach had all of their shots spread out across their targets. Alex and Nick had most of their arrows spread around the outer rings of the targets with a few lying behind the targets. Brooke clearly had the worst though. Less than five arrows dotted the edge of the target, most of them high, while at least ten were lying in the grass behind the target. "See? The Apollo campers have the best shots because archery is in their blood, same for Caleb. Zach, Monica, and Charlotte have average skills with archery. The other three have issues with this stuff though. Their strengths fall more into close combat, power, basically the stuff that keeps them closer to battle."

"Why is Brooke so much worse than the boys though?" I whispered, hoping Will would be the only one to hear it.

"Yeah, I've noticed that over the last few years," Will laughed. "If you ask me, Nick and Brooke each gained some aspects of their parents. With archery, Nick got Annabeth's skills, which are decent, and Brooke got Percy's, which are horrible."

"You mean there's actually something that Brooke can't do here?"

"Hey, every half-blood has something there good at and something they aren't. Now, take these," he handed me a bow and a handful of arrows and pointed to the nearest target, "and shoot at that one."

"Um," I grabbed the weapons, "don't you need to teach me how to shoot first?"

"I could, but like you said, each half-blood has instincts with these weapons. I want to see yours. Just take these, and do whatever comes to your mind, but try not to shoot anybody. Demigods don't appreciate being drilled by arrows." Nodding, I stepped toward the target. Placing my right foot forward, I notched an arrow and raised the bow. I knew I was doing something wrong. My body was twisted around and unbalanced.

"This isn't right," I mumbled under my breath, releasing the arrow. The arrow whizzed off at an angle, slamming into the target next to mine and nearly impaling a girl pulling arrows from the target. Letting out a high-pitched scream, the girl fell backwards, scrambling away from the target and attracting everybody's attention. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"Lacy!" another girl screamed, one of the Apollo kids, and darted toward the girl on the ground.

"Lacy, are you alright?" Will called from behind me, concern layered in his voice.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine," she stuttered shakily, grabbing the other girl's hand and pulling herself up.

"Alright then, she's okay, let's get back to work kids," Will said. "Here let me help you, Krystol. First off, are you right or left handed?"

"Right," I answered.

"Okay, then, instead of your right foot, it's your left foot that needs to be forward, just like if you were throwing a ball," he said, spinning me around so that my left was toward the target. "Now focus, and keep your entire body straight. If you start shifting without knowing what you're doing, it throws off your angles."

"'Kay, I'll try it," I breathed. Notching another arrow, I raised the bow and let it fly, the arrow missing the target by about a foot. "Darn it," I grumbled, letting the bow drop back to my side.

"You threw your hand back," somebody said. Turning, I saw Chiron standing behind me.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"When you released the bowstring, you threw your hand back, almost like you were trying to play Frisbee," he smiled. "By shifting your hand at the last second, you changed the alignment of your entire body, altering the arrow's path."

"Oh," I said, disappointed with myself. "I guess I kept up with the Frisbee style then. Mom and I used to play it all the time when I was younger."

"Really?" Chiron said, sounding interested. "Would you mind telling me how good you were at it?"

"Um, I guess I was pretty good at it," I shrugged.

"Hm, Krystol, I would like you to continue with the archery," Chiron told me, turning away and walking toward the bow wall. After a few minutes, he came back, holding a bronze disc by his side. "Krystol you've done enough archery for now. Will, could you take back her bow and arrows. I have something else I would like Ms. Lore to try."

"Um, Chiron are you sure about this?" Will asked, glancing at the disc in Chiron's hand. "I mean, that's mostly for sport. I don't even know the last time it was used by Greek soldiers, let alone a half-blood in battle."

"Yes, I'm quite sure Will. Besides, why would we want to hold back a skill that a half-blood may excel at?"

"Well, okay then, if you think it'll work. Here, I'll take those Krystol." Will walked off, holding the bow and the remaining arrows.

"Now," Chiron started, holding the disc up, "do you know what this is Krystol?"

"Well, if you ask me, it looks like a really old metal Frisbee," I answered.

"And that is basically what it would be in these times," Chiron chuckled. "It does have a name though. Can you think of it?"

I started rooting through my mind for what I'd learned about ancient Greek discs. It was round (obviously), metal, about a foot in diameter with a small curling design around the edges, and apparently only used for sports. "Um, I think I know what it is. Is it a discus? I mean, it's the only disc thing I can think of for Greece."

"And you are right child. This is a discus. I believe it was never used in the Olympic Games however. Pity, it would've made a wonderful discus. Although those times are long gone now, I would like you to try this Krystol. Perhaps it will make a formidable weapon, if not, certainly a surprising one."

"Why would it be a surprising weapon?" I asked, taking the discus and turning it over in my hands.

"The discus was indeed used for sport, although the modern and ancient forms have their differences. Another shock is that this type of discus, the ancient form, has not been used for nearly two-thousand years, since the ancient games were banned. I believe this was the last one made that was intended for competition."

"Wait, shouldn't this thing be in museum or something then?"

"Oh no, we here at the camp believe in using our weapons and inheritances. These weapons were designed to be used, not preserved in glass boxes where mortals can gawk at them," Chiron explained, smiling at my confusion. "Plenty of our weapons are as old as this discus, many more even older. For example, the sword Percy carries is thousands of years old, once used by Heracles himself." I opened my mouth to ask Chiron if my sword was that old, but stopped when I remembered the looks on Percy's and Will's faces. "What is it child?"

"Um, I was just gonna ask how I throw this thing," I lied.

"You throw it as if you are throwing a Frisbee," he answered off-handedly, looking like he wasn't convinced that I wanted to know how to throw it. Taking aim at the target, I curled my arm in and stepped to throw when Chiron snatched my arm and sun me around. "Try aiming at those," he suggested, pointing at a row of dummies across the field behind me. Nodding, my arm fell back into its curl, my right leg crossed behind my left. Taking a breath, I jumped forward on my right and uncurled my arm, the disc snapping into motion as my left leg fell behind the right. The discus spun for a few more seconds before slamming into a dummy's shoulder, falling to the ground ten feet behind it and spinning the dummy on its post.

"Whoa," I whispered.

"Well, I must say, that was fairly good for being new to this," Chiron complimented. "Where were you aiming at on it?"

"I was aiming for its head."

"Well, with a little more practice, I'm sure you'll be able to hit your target. And, of course, with more practice, your throws will gain more force, one day enough for even instant death."

"Wait a second, instant death? Are you saying I have to kill somebody?"

"Oh, gods no Krystol. When I say that you may be able to bring about instant death with a discus I mean to monsters. I think it would be a good idea for you to continue your practice with the discus. And I want you to keep Nekron."

"Ne what?" I asked.

"Nekron," Chiron repeated. "It is the discus's name. It means fallen. I believe its creator named it that due to the fact that it was the last discus made for, as he put it, "a lost art and a fallen game". The discus was made just months before the Olympic Games were banned. It never saw the game it was made for."

"Oh," I said, dropping my eyes and feeling almost sorry for the weapon.

"Here," Chiron said, handing me a drawstring bag. "This will hold Nekron instead of you holding it all day. And I would retrieve it quickly if I were you. It appears that your friends are ready to show you something else." Looking around, I saw the others placing their bows back on the wall and returning quivers of arrows. I turned back to thank Chiron for the discus, but he was already walking toward the remaining archers.

"Krys, let's go," Brooke called. Running over to the dummy line, I scooped up Nekron, shoved it in the bag, and ran to catch up with my friends, still mentally cursing my armor.

"Man," I complained, finally reaching my friends, "how do you guys wear this stuff?"

"Trust us, you'll get used to it," Zach promised.

"Great, so what now?" I grumbled as the conch horn blared through the valley.

"Now we get lunch," Nick grinned, racing off to the dining pavilion with the other boys.

An hour later, I was walking along the beach with Brooke, Monica, and Charlotte, finally out of all the armor.

"So, what's up with bag Krystol?" Charlotte asked.

"Oh, just something new," I smiled.

"Come on Krys, tell us what's in the bag," Brooke said.

"It's just something I was given."

"Yeah, and we wanna see it," Monica added, reaching around for the bag over my shoulder. Dodging her, I turned around and ran laughing down the beach.

"Hey, get back here Lore!" Brooke screamed, running after me with the others.

"Yeah right!" I shouted back. I heard a huge roar to the side of me. Looking at the ocean, I saw a high wave roaring through the water, barreling straight toward the shore. Throwing my arms over my head, I collapsed to the ground just as the wave pounded onto the beach, completely drenching me. Coughing up water, I sat up on my knees. "Thanks Brooke!" I shouted.

"Not a problem," I heard her whisper behind me, and then the bag was ripped away from me. "Yes! I got it!"

"Hey!" I protested, spinning to my feet and reaching out at her.

"I don't think so," Charlotte taunted, snapping my arms to my sides and holding me in place. Laughing, Brooke pulled the bag open, her face changing into confusion as she caught site of Nekron.

"What the…" she trailed, pulling the discus from the bag.

"Why do you have a discus?" Charlotte asked, letting go of my arms.

"I told you," I snapped, pulling the disc and bag from Brooke's hands, "it was a gift. Chiron gave it to me at the archery area. Apparently, I'm not too great at archery, but I've got good aim. I told Chiron that I used to play Frisbee all the time when I was younger, and he gave me this to try. I threw it once and he said keep it."

"Wow, you must've been pretty good at Frisbee," Monica said.

"I've never heard of a discus being used as a battle weapon though," Brooke murmured, taking a closer look at Nekron.

"Well, that helps narrow it down a little," Charlotte put in.

"What helps with what?" I asked.

"You not being great at archery, it helps us," Monica answered. "If you aren't much of a shot, then you probably aren't related to Apollo. That narrows our choices down to at least another dozen gods. But hey, it's a start."

"That's true, and anything helps," Brooke agreed. A whistle pierced the air, bringing all of our attentions farther up the beach. The boys were standing at the sand line, along with at least a half-dozen Athena kids.

"Oh, is little Jessie ready for her rematch?" Monica taunted in a babyish voice.

"Ready when you are, Hartridge!" Jessica shouted.

"Are you sure 'bout that Jess?" Brooke asked, a sly grin spreading across her lips.

"Oh, you are so on Jackson," she retorted slowly. "So are you ready or not?"

"'Course we are," I heard Zach say. "But are you ready to get your butts whipped by us?"

"I'd like to see you try," Jessica challenged, getting right into Zach's face.

"With pleasure," Brooke said softly, her voice carrying on the wind. I watched as about half of the Athena kids dropped their smug grins. Brooke walked off with Monica toward the others, holding her head high and proud.

"Are they sort of…" I started, looking at Charlotte

"Competitive," she finished. "Yeah, pretty much. Nick and Brooke have a sort of…friendly rivalry with the Athenians. Being that they're part Poseidon, and that Poseidon and Athena have a rivalry, they and the Athena kids get really competitive when it comes to anything. I guess it's just impulse for them. Come on. Let's see if you end up playing."

Let's just say that by the end of the game, the Athenians were pretty bummed and Jess's plan had failed.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Not much really," Brooke shrugged. "I was planning on just letting everybody do what they want 'til dinner."

"Sweet," Nick said. "See ya, I'm off for some basketball. Anybody else up for it?"

"Sure, why not," Caleb said, walking off with Nick, Alex, and Zach.

"What is it about basketball that boys find so appealing?" Monica asked.

"Monica, they're boys, they're playing with a ball, what other reason do they need to like it?" Brooke answered.

"True. Boys are so easy to entertain. Well, I don't know what you guys are doing, but I think it's too hot to be standing around here. I'll be swimming in the lake if you need me." With that, Monica waltzed off toward the cabin.

"Well, you two are on your own. I've got some butt to kick on the wrestling mat," Charlotte said, setting off toward some of the smaller buildings.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head down to the stables. Are you coming with?" Brooke asked.

"Nah, I think I'll hang out at the cabin for a bit," I told her.

"Okay," she shrugged before turning and walking away.

Nobody was at the cabin when I walked in. Still, I scanned the entire room, glancing under beds, on bunks, and looking in the bathroom. Convinced I was alone, I stepped over to Brooke's bed. Mom would so kill me for this, I thought. I reached my hand under her pillow, only to be met by nothing. Shocked, I flipped the pillow over. It wasn't there anymore. The paper was gone.

"Now how do I read it?" I mumbled to myself. Figuring that if Brooke had moved it, I'd never find it, I popped open my trunk and pulled out the notebook Mom had sent. Finding a pencil at the bottom of the case, I jotted down what I remembered of my dreams, paying as much attention as I could to the one with Brooke and that Kasey girl. After that, I just sat there, trying to sort through everything. I still couldn't believe that just yesterday, I was a normal (okay, somewhat-normal) middle school student. Now, I was being trained in ancient ways with lost weaponry. My disabilities had turned into amazing gifts. I just couldn't believe how fast it had happened.

Before I knew it, I was at dinner, surrounded by laughing and shouting. The food looked even better today than it had last night (if that was even possible). I'd tried sending up another offering to my father, but all I got back was the odor again. The night blurred by after I got past the smell. The food was delicious. I laughed and talked like I'd been here my whole life. Chiron had made his announcements. We'd been to the campfire, sang songs and danced like a bunch of monkeys. We all left to our cabins, everybody climbed into bed. It was just another day to them. I hadn't been claimed though. I saw the looks that had crossed the instructors' faces, particularly the annoyance and slight anger in Percy's. I'd seen the fear and confusion dance in the eyes of my cabin mates. Oddly, I almost didn't care. Maybe it was like Mom had said. Maybe it was better if he didn't claim me. Still, it would've been nice to have some sign. On the bright side, for the first time in weeks, I didn't have a single nightmare.

The next day, camp officially started. It was sort of like yesterday, except way busier and way harder. I was in constant drills with my sword (which Percy still seemed to pull away from) and constant throws at the archery range. I had to stare at ancient Greek all day and read the myths (which were written in ancient Greek). After lunch, I spent time trailing my cabin through the forest (which is apparently full of monsters), learning how to use a Greek trireme in battle, and falling off of a pegasus. I'll say this: camp is definitely not as easy as all of those Girl Scouts say it is. By dinner, I was ready to just knock out on my bed. I didn't even have the energy to notice what I was eating or smell whatever came from my offering. I think I actually fell asleep during the campfire. Finally getting into bed, I passed out almost immediately. For the first time in what felt like forever, I managed to go two nights without really dreaming. At least tomorrow was Saturday. According to the others, weekends were whatever days. I could do whatever I wanted, like sleep more and dunk my aching muscles into a tank of ice. I was still unclaimed though, and I could see that is was leaving a trail. All of the instructors were on edge. I could see the worry in their eyes, no matter how much they tried to hide it. I noticed a lot of campers were now looking at me strangely, like I was a time bomb about to explode. I saw the nervousness and fear in their faces. I also caught people staring at the sky a lot, like they were expecting it to come down and make everything all perfect again. It was like I was the only one who wasn't worrying about my own claiming. Oh well, it had to come eventually. After all, the gods had a deal.

Breakfast came and went again, tasting as good as ever. I spent the morning wandering through camp with Brooke and Monica. We swam, flew, and basically went nuts for hours. Lunch rolled past as the last few half-bloods from the mortal world straggled over the border. I played basketball with the whole cabin for a few extra hours before knocking out in my bed. Sadly, that's when my dream streak decided to end.

I was in New York City, just outside of the Empire State Building. I could hear screaming, roaring, claws scraping on the ground, hissing, and metal clashing on metal. I was in a battle. I looked to see what was going on, but everything was moving too fast, blurring into shapeless blobs. What was going on?

_Welcome, child_ I heard someone say. Glancing around, I couldn't find anybody that was talking to me. Everybody was still blurry and fighting. _Don't try to find me, you won't. Besides, if you did see me, then it would ruin the surprise._

_What surprise? _I asked, shocked that I was capable of speaking.

_Why, your claiming of course. We wouldn't want to reveal to you who your father is without the demigods seeing it _the voice said.

_You're my father? Who are you? Why is it that after twelve years you finally show up? And what did you do to make Mom hate you?_

_So many questions and so little time _it chuckled. _Then again, you have always been my little time, Krystol. You will see soon enough, along with the rest of them. For now, enjoy the fight._ The voice left just as the rest of the dream swam into view. Looking to the side, I watched as some blue giant thing brought down a hammer, aiming for my head. My eyes snapped open a second before the impact, and the dream was gone.

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes, realizing that it was early evening. Dinner would be starting soon. Swinging out of bed, I pulled a brush from my trunk and started combing out my bed hair. Within twenty minutes, the others had come in, joking around and laughing about who knew what. I wanted to talk to Brooke about the dream, but I couldn't get her alone. I could wait. I'd probably be able to tell her after dinner about it. The conch horn blared over the wind, bringing us all to dinner.

The dining pavilion was crammed full, brimming with at least a hundred half-bloods all shouting, laughing and greeting each other. Stamping his hoof against the ground, Chiron caught our attentions, giving out his usual announcements and calling in the nymphs and satyrs for dinner. Platters of meat, veggies, fruit, and bread circled through the tables again. Picking up my loaded plate, I stepped up to the fire and pulled a piece of chicken of my late.

"A claiming would be nice, but don't do anything stupid. You already messed up with my mom," I breathed, trying to direct the words to the voice I'd heard. Dropping the food into the flames, the now familiar odor wafted from the blaze, except it smelt about ten times worse. For the first time since my first offering, I thought I was going to hurl as I watched the nearest campers wrinkle their noses in disgust. Turning back, I dropped onto the bench of the table. Glancing at my food, it no longer seemed very appetizing, and I had a bad feeling spreading through me, telling me to get out, that something was wrong. Desperately looking up for the others, I caught sight of Charlotte having a belching contest with Zach (which seemed absolutely disgusting), Monica and Caleb were raising their glasses in a toast, Brooke was halfway back to the table, and Nick and Alex were at the fire. None of them seemed to be worried, so why was I? I was just blowing off the feeling and getting ready to dig into the food when a loud clatter sounded next to the table, making all of us jump, along with nearest two or three other tables. I looked up to see Brooke standing next to one of the benches, her eyes wide with horror and fear as she stared at me, her plate on the ground with food scattered all around it. Practically running over, Nick stepped beside his sister. Following her gaze, he opened his mouth to speak, but froze as his eyes locked onto me. His expression turned to an exact replica of Brooke's as his late slipped out of his grasp, Alex following suit just a foot behind his cousins. I heard gasps of terror and watched as Zach and Charlotte focused in on me and jumped away from the table. A second later, Caleb was scrambling off of the bench, his brown eyes masked in fright, and Monica let out a high scream, falling off her seat and crawling away from the table. At this point, most of the other campers had taken notice of our table. I heard gasps and screams sounding across the pavilion.

"What's going on?" I asked, still unaware of any problem other than the feeling building back up in my stomach. Then I realized that nobody was really staring at me, but at something above me. Glancing up, I caught sight of a fading shape. It was nearly gone now, but I could still clearly make out what it was: an ornate gold hourglass that dropped an endless stream of deep purple sand. Right then, I knew I was claimed, and that I was also as good as dead.

**There you go, all done. Sorry it took forever to make. I have my reasons, but who wants to hear about somebody's boring life, right? So, hope you like it, and thanks for reading. R&R please. (Seriously, pretty, pretty, pretty, please, please, please review. I actually like knowing what people think of my story here.) So that's about it, and let's hope it gets updated faster this time. See ya. **


	7. My Siblings Want To Kill Me

**Chapter 7: My Siblings Want To Kill Me**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of its characters, just all of my weird little OCs.**

Screams and shouts of fear and rage echoed through the hall, making it nearly impossible to hear anything clearly. I opened my mouth to ask what the sign meant (even though I already had a pretty good idea about it) when somebody's cup landed in front of me, dousing me in soda. Yelping, I fell back out of my seat, slamming onto the stone floor. Another cup landed beside me, splattering my face in what tasted like root beer, followed by a plate that nailed me in the thigh. Screaming, I bunched up into a ball as I watched one of the huge platters sail towards me. Somebody stepped in front of me, and I heard metal clang on metal. A hand tightened around my arm, hauling me to my feet and shoving me away from the table. It was Percy. His open shield was now covered in grease, mashed potatoes, and bits of corn and carrots. I opened my mouth again to ask what was happening.

Without even glancing at me, he shouted, "Move it, Krystol! You need to get of here now!" Before I could respond, something smacked into the back of my head. Instead of freaking out, I ripped my arm from Percy's grasp, reached into the bag that was still on my back, and yanked out Nekron. A second before the throw, Percy's hand latched onto my other arm and yanked me back, stopping the throw before it could even happen. "They're already mad enough, don't make it worse!" he thundered, pushing me again. We stormed past the mix-bloods and half-bloods, practically running a food gauntlet. Glancing back, I saw my friends staring at me in horror, like this was medieval England and I was the Black Plague.

"Get her to the Big House immediately," I heard Chiron order as I was pushed to Annabeth and Tanya. The two grabbed my arms and started running out of the pavilion and across the grass, shouts and screams still filtering from the mess hall. Barely able to keep up, I started panting out questions.

"What's going on here? What did I do? Why did they get mad? Did the camp just decide to hate me or something?"

"Krystol, shut up for five minutes," Annabeth growled, sounding a lot like Brooke in the taxi.

"But-"

"Krystol, that's enough," Tanya whispered. Finally, we reached the Big House. Gasping for breath, I was pulled into the main room and sat on one of the couches.

"What's going on?" I begged, my eyes darting from Annabeth to Tanya.

"I think that's something we should be asking you," Annabeth said, her face absolutely emotionless. Her eyes betrayed her, shining with traces of tears and anger. Tanya looked worried and cautious, like she wanted to help me but _didn't _want to at the same time. What did I do wrong?

"How am I supposed to answer that if I'm asking the same question?"

"Just stay here, okay?" she sighed. "We'll figure it out?" Turning on her heels, Annabeth stormed out the doors. Tanya took one more look at me before following Annabeth outside.

"This can't be happening," I muttered, putting my head into my hands. Now I was getting it: why Mom had seemed to hate Dad, why the Chimera had slowed down, how I always knew times, why the voice had sounded so old. But it couldn't be. Demigods were children of gods or other demigods. I couldn't be one of theirs…

Twenty minutes later, Chiron and the instructors stormed into the Big House.

"It's not possible Chiron!" Annabeth was shouting. "He's been gone for fifteen years, she's only twelve."

"You should know that there are always possibilities, Annabeth," he murmured, his eyes focused on me, "especially when it comes to dealing with time."

"True, but this is insane," the woman I recognized as Katie Solace broke in. "I mean, we all know how good he is with time, but he can't even really have a conscious at this point, let alone the power to hide a child and slow down their age."

"Never underestimate your enemies," Chiron replied. "I thought I always reminded my students of that."

"Okay," I interrupted, "will somebody please just tell me what's going on?" All eyes turned to me instantly. I saw pity in some, concern in others, even a little fear in a few. Almost all of them were tinged with anger or hatred though, and I got the feeling again that told me to run.

"I'll tell you what's going on here, brat," Mr. D said, pushing the adults out of his way and shoving his face right in front of mine. "You've just been claimed by the most wretched, merciless, soulless being to ever set foot on this earth. I'd start thinking of some story or explanation girl, before the others get here." He marched out of the house. I saw a faint gold light shine for a few seconds and then disappear outside.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm afraid that Mr. D has never been good with explanations or demigods really," Chiron stated.

"Don't call her that," one of the adults said softly. It was Anthony, Monica's dad. He and Hailey had shown up earlier that day to help with the lighter tasks of camp. "Why call her what she's not? She's no demigod. She might be a half-blood, but never a demigod, not if she's _his_ daughter."

"Anthony, I think that's enough," Chiron scolded. "There's no proof that she is his child yet."

"Are you blind?" Jake Mason roared. "Did you not see the sign? It's not like immortals can claim children who aren't theirs. Besides, who else could it be?"

"Enough," Chiron whispered. "Krystol, do you have any idea what has happened tonight? Do you have any clue what is going on?"

"I was claimed," I guessed. "I think I might know by whom, but given how everybody's reacting, I'd rather not be claimed."

"It's too late for that," Nico muttered. "Whether you like it or not, you've been claimed. And I'm willing to bet anything that she really is his child."

"Wait, whose child? Will somebody please explain what's going on clearly?"

"Think Lore," Clarisse growled. "Your symbol was an hourglass, an object of time. Of all ancient Greek entities, who is the only one associated with time?"

"But it can't be!" I protested. "Of all the old stories, he never had a single mortal child."

"That doesn't mean anything. How many stories mentioned that Iris had children, or Nyx, Boreas, Nemesis? Heck, even the major gods like Hades and Ares were never said to have mortal children. It doesn't mean it's impossible. Now, maybe you should start explaining things to us."

"How am I supposed to do that? It's not like I can explain why Kronos chose my mom over all the other ladies in the world, especially since I wasn't really alive at that point. Besides, it's like Annabeth said, the war ended fifteen years ago, I'm only twelve. Therefore, it can't really be possible for me to be his child."

"Remember, Ms. Lore," Chiron started, "this is the Titan lord we speak of, the once mighty ruler of this earth and the master of time itself. Many things are possible with this being."

"But, like I've already said, he'd be too weak from the war to do anything," Katie argued. "Percy, you remember what Hermes said, right?"

"He said that with any luck, he'd never be able to reform a consciousness again, let alone a body," he answered, staring straight at me.

"See? Hermes believes Kronos can't rise again. It took him over three milennia last time. How could he possibly rise after just fifteen years? I'm telling you, the Titan lord couldn't possibly rise again, or even watch a child. There's no way Krystol can be his daughter," Katie stated, nodding at me reassuringly.

"You forgot one thing Katie: his servant," Percy objected, his expression turning dark. "It was killed the first time, but we missed it the second time around. The gods explained what they think it's for, what it does. If they're right, then that thing is feeding Kronos, giving him a conscious. If that's the case, then he could possibly have enough power to watch a child."

"True," Tanya put in. "But it still doesn't explain how she's only twelve when the war's been over for fifteen years. I'm siding with Katie on this one. Krystol can't be his daughter." A wave of protests and agreements flew around the adults as they argued. I saw Chiron open his mouth to silence them, but the job was done for him. A massive lightning bolt streaked through the sky, sending bright light through every window in the building. A thunderclap shook everything as a miniature earthquake cracked the floor. Ornaments fell from the ceiling, shattering against the wood. The room grew dark and cold, filling with a menacing and malevolent atmosphere. All noise stopped instantly as the adults looked all around themselves in horror. Then the front doors blasted open, letting in the sound of rain and hail, thunder, and waves pounding against the shore that was at least a mile away.

"Oh no," somebody muttered. "They've found out." Another flash lit up the sky, and in the next instant, about a dozen new people were crowded in the doorway. Most of them looked to be in their twenties or thirties. Others looked like they were just teenagers while others looked like they couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen. I could literally feel the power rolling off every single one of them. Most of them looked slightly familiar, like some of the campers. Within seconds, the instructors had dropped to their knees in front of the new comers.

"Where is she?" a man with black hair and blue eyes thundered. I slowly sank out of the couch and to the floor, hoping none of them had seen me. They all looked pretty focused on the adults at their feet, especially on Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron.

"My lord," Chiron said, standing up straight but keeping his eyes on the ground. "May I ask who it is you seek?"

"You know exactly who we're looking for Chiron," the man hissed. "Where is she? Where have you put her?" _Great _I thought. _They're looking for me. Now I'm dead._ I glanced up to see one of the people, a small girl about nine-years-old in a brown dress, staring at me. Catching my eye, she gave me a faint smile before turning back to the other demigods.

"You may rise, half-bloods," she said gently.

"Thank you lady Hestia," Percy murmured, rising to his feet with the others. "My lord Zeus, perhaps you can tell us what girl you're looking for." _Oh crap_ I thought. _It's the gods._

"Don't play dumb, Perseus Jackson," Zeus growled. "You know exactly who we seek. Now where is she?"

"If you don't tell us, I'm sure little Brooke would know where she is," another man said. His vicious eyes that shone behind his sunglasses, leather clothes, and scarred face said that he would be perfectly happy with finding Brooke and having a little "chat" with her. "After all, Brooke brought her in, didn't she? Maybe we should wrap her up in some of this for bringing that brat here."

"Ares, if you touch my daughter, I swear I will personally rip you to shreds and throw you in Tartarus to rot for an eternity," Percy threatened.

"You dare threaten a god? You insolent little demigod, I should destroy you for such an insult!"

"I'd like to see you try," Annabeth challenged, walking up next to her husband with a dagger in her hand.

"Annabeth, Percy, that's enough," one of the gods interrupted.

"Of course, forgive us father," Percy sighed, not sounding even slightly sorry.

"Ares," the man continued, "there is no need to threaten innocent half-bloods. Brooke has done nothing but bring the child here. How was she supposed to know who the girl would turn out to be?"

"Enough!" Zeus bellowed. "We came here for a reason. Where is Krystol Lore? The child is too much of a threat and must be destroyed." I covered my mouth to keep from shouting, but a squeak got out before my hand was up. Everybody's eyes turned to me, either burning with hatred or filled with fear and pity. Mr. D broke away from the other gods and stormed over to the couch I was hiding by. Victory burned in his eyes as his hand wrapped around my wrist like a vine and hauled me to my feet. Dragging me in front of the gods, he threw me to the ground.

"This," he pointed, "is Krystol Lore. This is the girl claimed by the Titan."

"So, you dare to enter our camp?" Zeus growled. "You walk right into our camp as a daughter of the Titan lord and expect no punishment? Well child, you have made the biggest mistake of your life, and probably your last one as well."

"She's only twelve," Hestia whispered.

"What does that matter Hestia?"

"The war ended three years before she would have been born," another woman put in, this one with shoulder-length black hair and startling gray eyes that matched Annabeth's, Brooke's, and those of the two little kids from my dream. _Athena_. "If the war has been over for fifteen years and this child is only twelve, then she could not be the child of a Titan."

"Exactly so, brother," Hestia agreed.

"However," Athena continued, "she has been claimed by the lord of time. If he has managed any sort of conscious, he may have been able to alter the time of which this child lives in. Perhaps the child has even learned how to control any power she may have and is slowing down her time herself."

"Is that even possible Athena?" another goddess asked.

"I'm not sure Artemis, but it is certainly a plausible idea, especially given what the Titan king has done before."

"What does it matter?" Zeus roared. "The child is a danger to everybody, one that must be destroyed."

"How can she be a danger?" Percy protested. "She hasn't done anything except get caught up in battles and brought here. Even those weren't her choices."

"I'm surprised to see you defending her, Percy," Athena said slowly. "I would have thought that after all he put you through, you would want nothing with relations to the Titan left on this earth. We all remembered how you reacted when you found out about the sword, and that was simply a weapon. This is a living being who has direct relations to him and could even turn to him as an ally. And of course, we mustn't forget the prophecy."

"I'm defending her because she's another innocent half-blood. We all remember the last time you guys tried to bring down powerful half-bloods because of a prophecy. An innocent mortal was killed, children were locked away from the earth, another was turned into a tree, and when we all finally came back to the real world, one was killed and the lives of three more were like living nightmares for years. I remember having to live like that, and I'm sure both Nico and Thalia remember it too. I'm just trying to keep it from happening again." For a second, it looked like most of gods looked embarrassed and ashamed.

"Son, this half-blood is a threat, she could bring down everything we know, everything you fought to preserve from the Titans," Poseidon explained.

"So? We were threats too. What if Nico and Bianca hadn't been put into the casino? What if Thalia had chosen to side with the Titan's when Luke offered? What if I had turned out to want to bring down Olympus as well? We were all threats; we all could've destroyed the world that we knew. The point is we don't know anything yet. We don't know how Krystol will turn out. She might fight for her father, but she might fight for us. We don't know yet. But she's an innocent child. You said it yourself father, there's no need to threaten an innocent half-blood."

"How do classify that _thing _as innocent?" Ares thundered, stepping forward so that he was right in Percy's face. "She's the daughter of our biggest enemy, an enemy that would do anything to take revenge on you in an instant. For all we know, he may be using her for revenge as we speak. Do you really want to leave something like her living? You'd let her, and all of her power and danger, wander through the world with your children?"

"Like Percy said," Nico broke in, "the three of us are powerful and dangerous, yet we were trusted enough. The only difference is that she's a Titan's child."

"Exactly so," a new god, one that looked a lot like Nico, retorted. "You two must be losing your minds to let her live. Her father tried to kill you. Who's to say she won't try to again? Who's to say that she won't go after your children?"

"Brooke is my friend!" I cried. "I'd never hurt her, not that I could anyway. She'd rip me to shreds in seconds. And Nick and Alex are the best tag team I've ever seen. I'd have no chance against them. Besides, they're basically my friends now too. Why would I want to hurt them? They've been better friends to me in the past few days or weeks than anybody in my entire life!"

"Silence!" Zeus called. "You are a threat that cannot be tolerated." A metal pole about two feet long with sparking ends appeared in his hands. Shouts of agreement and protests sounded through the room as Zeus aimed the pole at me. In seconds, I was surrounded by Percy, Annabeth, and Nico, each with drawn weapons. "Move!"

"No, you can't do this!" Percy shouted. "Not again, Zeus!"

"I said move!"

"Wait!" somebody screamed. The gods and half-bloods whipped around to the door, spreading apart as somebody walked in. It was a woman. I couldn't tell how old she was; she had one of those timeless faces. Her frizzy red hair was dripping with water and plastered to the sides of her face. She had vibrant green eyes that seemed to know more than possible. Her paint-splattered jeans and NYU t-shirt were soaked through.

"Rachel, when'd you get here?" Tanya asked.

"A few minutes ago. I've been standing on the porch for about ten minutes now listening to you guys yelling. Oh, and thanks for the surprise rain and mini quake that almost spun me off the road."

"Rachel, what are you doing?" one of the gods asked.

"Lord Apollo," Rachel greeted the god, bowing slightly even though the man only looked about eighteen. "I was sent here. Some feeling told me to come here, that something was wrong. Now," she lifted her head to Zeus, "what exactly is going on here? Something about a half-blood being dangerous?"

"This girl is Titan spawn, an intolerable threat to Western civilization," Zeus growled, his eyes now drilling into Percy with a murderous glint.

"A Titan spawn?" Rachel repeated, curiosity filling her voice. Crossing the room on light feet, she weaved around Zeus and stopped in front of the demigods guarding me. Without a single word, the three stepped aside, leaving me to stare at Rachel's feet. Stooping down to my level, she smiled slightly and offered me a hand. "Come on kiddo, stand up." Taking her hand shakily, I climbed to my feet and looked into her eyes. Her smile melted off her face and her hand slid from mine as her eyes started to glow faintly. "An heir," she rasped, her voice echoing. The glow in her eyes faded and she swayed for a second. "The first one, the first heir," she whispered, running her shaking hands through her hair.

"Excuse me?" I asked, reaching out to help steady her.

"An heir," she repeated, taking a step away from me.

"And that's all I needed to hear," Zeus grumbled, raising his weapon again and aiming at me. The ends started sparking and growing until the pole had grown into a seven foot lightning bolt.

"No!" Rachel shrieked, grabbing Zeus's arm and pulling it back to his side. "You can't touch her!"

"Oh, don't tell me that you think this demon is innocent as well."

"It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what any of us think about her. We can't kill her."

"And why's that, o wondrous oracle?" Ares mocked.

"It is forbidden until further notice by the Fates themselves." Rachel's eyes picked up on the glow again as the gods looked utterly and completely dumb-founded. When Rachel spoke again, her voice came out as a harsh, rasping echo. "The child is an heir, as the prophecy calls for. An heir will take hold of the prophecy; they will shape the future as it commands. In this point of time, this heir is vital. Her destruction by a god is forbidden, lest the gods of Olympus dare to challenge our prophecy and awaken the fury of fate itself. Choose wisely, Zeus, before deciding what to do with your sister." Rachel collapsed into a shivering heap. She glanced up again, and I saw sweat sticking to her pale face. "The Fates have spoken," she whispered, her voice turning normal again. "Be careful with your decision, Lord Zeus."

Glaring at Rachel, Zeus looked like he would murder the next person who dared to do anything. Finally, after what felt like forever, he spoke. "Someone take this demon from our presence. We have much to discuss, all of us." Moving hesitantly, Percy gripped my shoulder and started leading me to the door. "No," Zeus growled. "She will not be near our demigods. Take her elsewhere." Nodding stiffly, Percy turned and gently pushed me toward one of the staircases. At the top of the landing was a long, blank hallway with at least twenty doors.

"These are guest rooms," Percy whispered. "They aren't usually used, but given the situation…"

"What are they gonna do with me?" I murmured. I felt his hand tighten for a second before it slipped from my shoulder.

"Take the door on the end, left side," he mumbled, turning down the stairs. Trying to even out my breathing, I walked toward the room. Before closing the door, I heard voices rising again as the gods and their children argued. I turned to see a simple room. It had a single bed with plain sheets spread across it. A small dresser sat beside it. Another door in the wall led to a tiny bathroom that I could barely move around in. The bare walls didn't seem very welcoming, but at least I didn't feel like I was in as much danger up here. Crossing to the single window, I could see that the camp was definitely not normal, even by camp standards. Lightning streaked across a black, moon-and-starless sky. Rain and hail pounded against the glass as thunder roared through the valley. I could make out the barest outlines of trees in the distance, most whipping wildly in the wind, some bent nearly in half. I couldn't hear it, but I knew that the waves were still crashing into the beach with no mercy. Within an hour, a peaceful camp had turned into a war zone of the gods, and it was entirely my fault. Feeling miserable, I walked back into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My hair, clothes, arms, and practically entire body were speckled with all kinds of food and drink. Now I saw what I'd been looking for on my first day: a scared little girl who was way out of her league. Sighing, I ditched my food war clothes and jumped in the shower.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting on the edge of the bed with my hair wrapped in a towel, wearing pajamas that had apparently been brought up from my trunk when I was in the bathroom. Everything was finally sinking in. I was terrified. No, I was mortified. Fear had seeped into every inch of my body. Because of my so called father, I was being treated like public enemy number one of Olympus. I hadn't even done anything wrong (at least anything that I knew of), yet the gods were debating whether I should live or not. Sighing, I pulled the towel off my head, tossed it to the ground, and dropped onto the bed flat on my back. For once, I closed my eyes and prayed that I would fall asleep faster. If I could manage my dreams at all tonight, then I knew exactly what I was going to do. It was time for me to have a little talk with my dad.

I was back in New York City, but it wasn't the city I knew. It was barren and silent. Not a single person walked along the streets. All of the cars were on the sides of the roads. Every light was off. Without the lights, the clouds looming over the city cast an ominous shadow. It was like New York City in a parallel universe or something.

_So,_ a voice whispered, gliding through the empty streets,_ the gods have shown you their true selves. They are terrible, selfish creatures, a scourge upon this once beautiful land._

_Who do you think you are _I asked.

_I am your father child._

_I know that. I'm not an idiot here. I meant, who do you think you are to go around claiming me, throwing me into a world where you knew the gods would be after me, hurting Mom?_

_I will admit that I have not always made the greatest choices in my long lifetime._

_You got that right._

_I am here now child, and I intend to help you, if you help me of course._

_Why would I help you? Like I said, you hurt my mom. You deserted us before I was even born. And now, when the gods are all paying attention and every half-blood is around, you decide to pay attention to me. What kind of a father does something like that?_

_Oh, Krystol _the voice sighed, almost sounding amused by my questions. _There is so little that you understand. But I want to help you now._

_Why should I trust you? Everybody that's made any mention to you so far speaks with disgust, fear, and hatred. They all say you're some horrible demon._

_That is because they fight for the gods, or they are the gods themselves. But the gods are not the great, wonderful beings that the demigods wish for you to see. Perhaps you should see just how horrible the gods are, and what their intentions for you are most likely to be._

My dream shifted. I was in some old hotel, somewhere in Washington D.C. I saw two little kids, a girl and a boy that looked like Nico, running through the room. A woman and one of the gods I'd seen earlier (Hades I think) were sitting on a couch, speaking quickly. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew something was wrong. The woman got up and started to walk off. A second later, the god had jumped up and thrown out his hands, like he was trying to stop something. A huge flash, lightning, ripped through the hotel. Then I saw the woman lying dead on the floor, the children standing in shock by her.

_Only Zeus controls lightning of all the gods_ I heard Kronos say. Then the dream moved again.

I was in a car, speeding down an old country road that looked (or more so felt) like the one we'd taken to get here in the taxi. I could see three others: a satyr that looked about twelve or thirteen with curly hair and no pants, a woman with soft brown hair up front at the wheel, and another boy that looked like a teenage Percy. I could see their mouths moving, but couldn't hear a single word again. Suddenly, I saw a white flash and felt the car fly through the air. Lightning, again. The dream shifted again before I could see what had happened to the people.

I was at the top of Half-Blood Hill, except it had no tree. I watched as the same satyr I'd just seen turned away from a girl who was holding a shield and spear, almost regrettably, and lead away a smaller girl and an older boy. The girl who had stayed turned to face a miniature army of monsters that had reached the crest of the hill. She battled hard for a good twenty minutes before falling, mortally wounded and dying, to the dust-covered grass.

_Monsters sent by Hades _Kronos muttered. I watched as more scenes played through my mind. I saw what looked like the teenage versions of Percy and Annabeth in Mt. Saint Helens as it erupted. I was told that they had been sent there by the god Hephaestus. I watched as a group of four people searched through huge mounds of metal, desperately looking for someone. Apparently, a girl had died because of an automaton created by Hephaestus. I saw four kids standing before the Olympian council. The gods had been deciding whether or not to kill two of them for being powerful. I watched as dozens of clips of half-bloods from across the ages were murdered, abandoned, or deceived by the gods. I watched the gods draw up great disasters upon the world out of anger or spite, or even a war that was simply between them. I basically saw the gods ravaging mortals, half-bloods, and the mortal world. At least, that's what I'd been told had happened. Not a single piece of my dream had any noise to it.

_What were they saying _I asked shakily, still trying to recover from the horrors I'd seen.

_What does it matter what was being said? I told you what happened _Kronos grumbled.

_I want to know exactly what they said. I want to hear what was going on._

_You have no need for that._

_Says who? I want to know what was really going on. It's as simple as turning the sound-. _

My dream cut out as my eyes snapped open. Someone was shaking my shoulder, trying to wake me up. I glanced over to see Percy, relief covering his tired face.

"The gods decided," he said. "They said they'll let you live."

"Great, I love having people debating and voting if I should live or die," I snapped, remembering the scene with the four kids on Olympus.

"Hey, I know what you're feeling," Percy said, sitting on my bed and looking into my eyes. "The gods get really edgy, really fast. They were thinking of safety and a bunch of other things that I don't think you should know about yet. But, you've gotten this far with them. Why don't you just give them a chance, okay? I bet they'll warm up to you eventually. It took them four years to decide that I wasn't too bad." Letting out a huge yawn, he got up and walked to the door.

"Hey Percy," I called.

"Yeah Krystol?"

"Um, did the gods ever, um, you know, act out against half-bloods? Like, have any of them tried to kill a half-blood and missed, or sent monster armies after anybody in particular?"

Percy glanced back at me. For a split second, I saw pain and anger and sadness in his eyes. Then they turned hard as all emotion was wiped from his face and eyes. "Maybe you should get some sleep. It's too early for you to be awake."

"It's almost six," I smiled, not even glancing outside for the sunrise or looking at the clock on my dresser. "I'll be up in a half-hour anyway, so what's the point of trying to sleep more?"

"I'll get someone to bring up some of your clothes," he smiled. "Remember, there aren't any lessons you have to go to today. Not to make you feel unwelcome or anything, but be careful. If you go outside, watch your back. The campers aren't too happy with you right now. If I were you, I'd lay off talking to too many people. Why don't you try finding…" he trailed off, looking like he was about to say something that would taste sour.

"Try finding who?"

"Um, why don't you look for…try finding Brooke, okay? You're more likely to get along with her or Monica than anybody. If you can't find them, look for the others." Without waiting for me to say anything, he trudged out of my new room.

"Great," I sighed, swinging out of bed. I'd been claimed by a supposed monster that makes the gods look horrible, I was losing friends and making enemies, and my existence was now being debated by both mortals and immortals. Best of all, my own siblings wanted me dead. At least most of them did, or that's what it felt like, along with most of the other gods. Maybe everybody was wrong. Maybe Kronos wasn't that bad. Maybe he was the one I should be turning to. After all, the gods wanted me dead. They probably just didn't want to deal with the Fates. But still, something seemed out of place with my dad. I was just hoping to figure out what was going on before I got into too much trouble.

**A/N: There's the chapter. Kind of short, but oh well. Hoped you liked it, and whatever. Let's just pretend that I put all my normal stuff in there. Anyway, don't blame me if it takes forever to update. I've got finals, constant practice, a competition, 8****th**** grade promotion, and a bunch of other stuff. So yeah, that's about it. Enjoy and review please.**


	8. From Bad To Worse

**Chapter 8: From Bad To Worse**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

Let's just say that breakfast was absolute misery. If you can imagine having over a hundred well-trained, seriously pissed off half-bloods staring at you like a pack of wolves closing in on their prey and multiply that by at least ten, then you'd have a pretty good idea of how I felt. Not to mention that there were about thirty extra people there since Artemis's hunters had apparently shown up at some point in the middle of the night. It also didn't help that I was easy to pick out of the crowd. I'd walked right into the mess hall surrounded by the adults and had been forced to sit at the head table instead of sitting with my friends, if they still were my friends. I couldn't find any way to try to communicate with them, though they probably wouldn't have noticed if I had tried. None of them would do any more than sneak a glance at me and look away when I locked onto their gaze. All except for Brooke, Nick, and Alex, who were sitting with their backs to me, not even fidgeting like they wanted to look. And Caleb. He wouldn't look at me either. For some reason, he looked like he was doing worse than any of the others that I could see. Sighing, I finished my breakfast quickly and stalked out of the hall before Chiron even said his normal announcements.

Taking Percy's advice, I tried to keep away from the other campers. I spent nearly an hour pacing the beach, hoping that Brooke or somebody else from the cabin would show up. Nobody did. I later peeked into the arena to see if they were practicing or something. All I got were a bunch of insults from the Ares cabin and a spear chucked at my head. I tore off toward the archery area after that, thinking I could find Caleb and some of the other boys hanging out. I was met by a cabin's worth of scowls and jeers, along with a few arrows landing about five feet from me. I didn't even consider going to the forges, not with all of those weapons and fire just lying around. I figured the fields were a bad idea too, considering that if Dionysus's or Demeter's kids were there I'd be risking getting strangled by strawberry plants. And the climbing wall? Forget that. If any campers were there or in charge of it, I'd be falling off that thing in five seconds into a pool of lava. It looked like Percy was right, not even the camp was safe anymore. Well, there was one place that I might be able to go to.

I pulled the door to the cabin open, hoping that nobody was inside. The door squeaked and seven heads turned to look at me.

"Um, hey guys," I mumbled hesitantly, crossing the room to my old bed. I popped open my trunk and started pulling out pieces of my armor.

"What are you doing here?" Charlotte asked.

"What, am I not allowed to come get my stuff?" I snapped.

"Well, we figured since you didn't come back last night that-," Zach started.

"That I was what? Dead? Banished? What did you think happened?" I ranted, spinning around and standing to face them. "Oh by the way, thanks for all of your support and help at dinner last night. I really liked how you guys stood up for me. You're all amazing friends."

"Oh shut up, Lore!" Monica jumped down from her bed. "What did you expect us to do? Did you think we'd be all gung ho and jumping around in joy because you're the daughter of a titan? Did you honestly think we'd be happy that somebody we thought was our friend was the child of the monster that almost destroyed the gods and our entire half-blood race? No Krystol. Sorry, but that's not something we generally celebrate."

"Oh, so now I'm just somebody that you _thought_ was your friend? Well that's just great. It's nice to know that I was never really in your guys' social group. How 'bout I just take my stuff and get out, huh, unless you four have anything else to say." I glared at the others who'd remained silent. Nick and Alex were staring at me from their bunk. Caleb was facing me, but his eyes were downcast and he looked almost disappointed versus mad. Brooke wasn't even glancing at me. Instead, she'd dropped her head back onto her pillow and acted like I wasn't even there. For a second, I thought I saw her shoulders shaking slightly. I probably just imagined it though. I doubted Brooke would really cry over anything, much less me. "Fine, I don't need you guys anyway. I've survived without friends for years." Ignoring the armor I'd pulled out, I yanked my sword out from beside the bed post and dashed out, sprinting for the woods. I knew I wasn't really supposed to go in without armor and another person, but I didn't care. I just had to get away.

The woods were dark and covered in shadows. I could hardly find a path and stick to it for more than a hundred feet or so. All of the trees and rocks looked the same to me. The roots sticking out of the ground, holes, branches that randomly appeared in front of me, and hidden rocks didn't help me much either. _Jeez, how do they find their way in this place_ I thought. If you would've asked me, I would've said the forest was impossible to get through. The only thing I could find to follow was the creek. I would've stuck by it, except that the naiads decided to start spitting water at me._ Great_ I thought._ Even nature hates me._ I finally came into one of the few clearings in the woods. Something felt odd about this clearing though. Most of the trees in the area looked smaller and younger than the rest in the forest. A lot of the rocks looked slightly blackened. The ground looked more rugged and torn up than the rest of the woods. A few branches lay at the edge of the clearing, black and crumbling. A massive pile of boulders jutted toward the sky from the center of the clearing.

"Where the heck am I?" I murmured out loud. Walking to the rock pile, I realized that the mound had fallen in on itself at one point. Rock chips the size of my hand and bigger lay scattered at the base. Some of the boulders clung to the pile precariously, threatening to fall and drop on anyone around it. Sighing, I sat at the bottom of the pile and closed my eyes. "Show me," I whispered. One thing you should know, sometimes I get to control what I see in my dreams, only sometimes, but that's enough for me. It only took me five minutes to fall asleep.

I heard the roars, screams, explosions, and fighting before I even saw it. My vision flickered on, greeting me with a full blown battle. At least sixty demigods were weaving across the field, battling an army of monsters that must've numbered in the hundreds, maybe even a thousand. I saw a fire raging through the woods as more demigods dropped out of the trees, desperate to escape the inferno. A massive wave crashed through the woods, watering the fire down until all that was left was a smoking, charred tree line. The monsters continued to push, forcing the half-bloods to retreat and splitting them into a thin, sprawled out line. Some completely turned tail and ran in defeat, even though others were calling for help. I saw more explosions rise from the ground around the pile as monsters burst into flames. The demigods were hopelessly outnumbered as more monsters poured from an opening in the rock mound. Every now and again, I would hear somebody from the half-blood army shouting out a god's name. Mostly, I heard monsters roaring in guttural voices, calling out a single name that pushed the monsters forward and the demigods back: Kronos. This army, the same that was mercilessly fighting against the campers and trying to slaughter them, was working for my father.

_What do you think you're doing_ a voice hissed. My vision went blank, and then focused again. I was underground somewhere. Before me was a massive rip in the stone ground. _Tartarus _I knew.

_What do you want_ I snapped back at my father. _I'm kind of busy here._

_Why were you watching that?_

_I wanted to know what had happened. Now, can you explain to me why those monsters were chanting your name?_

_They were looking for me, after a few half-bloods attempted to bring me down._

_Why do I doubt that?_

_Why should you? I've done nothing against you._

_You've also done nothing for me. _

_I've offered you sanctuary from the gods._

_No, you've offered to let me help you rise to the earth again. You never said anything about keeping me safe from the gods._

_Haven't I kept you safe for all these years?_

_Trust me; I would've known if you were interfering with the gods finding me. I know everybody says that nobody really knows they're involved in this stuff until they're told, but I would've known if you were protecting me. Besides, given how Mom talked about you, I don't think she would've let you have a hand in my life._

_Your mother wouldn't have had a choice, half-blood._

_Really? So now you're saying that my mom wouldn't have had a choice over anything in my life if you'd been watching me? Well that just proves that you haven't been watching me, because Mom's made all of the big decisions in my life._

_How do you know that she's been making the choices and that I haven't been…influencing her decisions?_

_If you've been forcing my mom to do things, I swear..._

_You swear what? If you were to turn against me, you'd lose everything. The gods would be down your throat before you could even blink._

_I never said I was on your side in the first place!_

_Why shouldn't you be? The gods wanted to kill you last night, and would have if that girl hadn't acted like the Fates would be after them._

_Wait, you mean Rachel lied about the Fates? _

_Of course she did! Did you honestly think the Fates cared for you or wanted you at all? You're just another mortal to them. They don't care for you in any way._

_Then why would Rachel defend me?_

_What does it matter? The point is that no one cares for you in this world of immortals and monsters, except for me of course._

_Yeah right. If you cared, then you wouldn't have claimed me in this place. You wouldn't have left me at the gods' mercy. You would let me see what I want the way I want. You wouldn't hold back if you were with me._

_You dare to accuse me? I should-. _Kronos's voice cut out as a huge roar broke up the dream.

My eyes flicked open to see a huge scorpion roaring at me. Screaming, I rolled to the side as the beast lunged and slammed into the rock pile. The monster was pitch black and at least ten feet long with razors for teeth and massive pincers. Looking around frantically, I found my blade by the rocks where I'd just been. Too bad it was only a foot or so away from the scorpion. Instinctively, I reached behind my head for my discus, and then remembered that I'd left it at the Big House. Cursing myself mentally, I fell into a defensive stance. Hissing and spitting, the scorpion started scuttling toward me faster than I thought it could move. Taking a deep breath, I charged at it. At the last second, I hit the ground and rolled to the side, feeling pain sear into my left arm. Jumping to my feet, I ran the last five feet, scooped up my sword, and spun to face the monster. I saw something fall from one of its claws, and it took me a second to realize that it was blood. Glancing at my stinging arm, I saw that there was a long cut running from my left shoulder to my elbow, dripping blood into the bright green grass. Hearing the beast screech, I looked up to find it advancing on me. Gripping the sword, I let out the best battle shout I could muster (which was about as loud as a squeak) and charged at the monster. Ducking under its claws, I lashed out with the sword, taking off one of its legs.

"Yes!" I shouted, pumping my fist into the air. Then I screamed as I saw the stinger swinging toward me. Closing my eyes, I swung out blindly, hearing the creature let out what sounded like a tortured cry. It swung out with one of its claws, sending me flying through the air. I slammed to the ground with a thump, feeling the air forced from my lungs. The scorpion let out another howl. I turned my head to see it almost holding its tail. Apparently, I'd taken off the tip of its stinger. "Great, now it's really mad," I mumbled, hauling myself to my feet. The thing flicked its head toward me, let out another roar, and sped toward me. I darted forward to pick up my sword again, then spun to the side to avoid the monster. The creature twisted around to face me and rushed forward again. I meant to turn past it again, but the thing seemed to finally have figured out what I was doing. Instead of running straight, it twisted around and jumped almost on top of me. I lost my balance trying to back pedal away and fell on my butt. The scorpion raised its tail above me. Just before it brought down its stinger, I saw it rear back and cry in agony as the last bit of its stinger fell to the ground, severed from the rest of its tail. I felt like I was going to be sick.

"Move it you idiot!" I heard somebody scream. Rolling away from the shrieking monster, I grabbed my sword and bolted back to the rocks, ducking behind them to hide from the scorpion. Peeking around the boulders, I saw the bug swinging around wildly. Every now and then, a wound would randomly appear on its hide.

"Okay, whoever's doing this is nuts," I said to myself.

"You know, it'd be nice to have some help down here!" the voice shouted, and I almost recognized it. I saw my sling bag drop to the ground about twenty feet from the thing out of thin air. Breathing in, I ran forward to pick it up, hoping I could reach it before the monster saw me. Of course, with my luck, the scorpion saw me before I was even fifteen feet from my weapon. Letting out another squeal, it darted toward me. I dead stopped and stared in terror at it. "I said move!" the voice screamed. A wave ripped past the trees and slammed into the bug only five feet from me, throwing the scorpion into the trees across the clearing and soaking me through to my skin. Coming to my senses, I slid across the field to my bag and yanked out Nekron just as the scorpion let out another roar.

"Bring it on!" I screamed at it, dropping my sword and falling into my throwing stance.

"Watch its claws!" I heard. The monster charged again, but not at me. I heard a high scream as the bug swung out with its claws and tail in all directions. A second later, I saw Brooke bouncing and rolling to a stop halfway across the field, her Yankees hat lying between her and the monster. The monster scuttled after her with raised claws. Scrambling to her feet, Brooke turned and ran toward the rock pile, grabbing the rocks and pulling herself to the top. The scorpion slammed head first into the boulders, nearly shaking Brooke off.

"Oh, I'm an idiot," I muttered. Focusing on the beast's head, I flung the discus as hard as I could. The disc spun, sliced through the air, and crashed into one of the claws, leaving a huge, oozing gash. "That's disgusting!" At the sound of my voice, it spun around and prepared to charge me. Taking the distraction as an opportunity, Brooke pulled a dagger from a sheath around her waist, took a breath, and leapt off the mound, landing right on the monster's back. It was over in seconds after that. Brooke plunged the knife into the creature's back as deep as she could. It struggled for a few moments before going limp and crashing to the ground. Yanking out her dagger, Brooke slid off of it, landing lightly on her feet. Crossing the clearing, she grabbed the sword she'd dropped when the bug had smacked her, turned it back to a pen, and stuck it her pocket. She walked past me without as much as a glance, but shoved a bottle into my hand.

"That was amazing Brooke," I said.

"You shouldn't have been out here alone, especially without armor," she muttered, stopping a few feet away.

"Yeah, well, I kind of needed a break. I mean everybody was so snappy and stuff. I would've worn the armor, but the others were driving me crazy."

"That's no excuse."

"Well I'm sorry for not doing what you wanted. You know, if I wanted to be told what to do, I'd have brought my mom here." The words came out harsher than I had meant.

"Sorry for trying to help you." I could barely hear her, and she sounded genuinely upset. _Yeah right_ I thought. _She's probably just faking._

"Oh yeah? Well I could've used your help yesterday at dinner." For the first time since that night, Brooke looked back at me, and I instantly regretted what I'd been saying. She opened her mouth to say something when we heard the conch horn blare over the tree tops.

"Something's wrong," she stated, her voice losing all of the emotion that had just been there. "Come on, drink a little of that stuff, and I'll get you out of here." Taking a quick swig from the bottle, my mouth seemed to burst with flavor. The drink tasted just like my mom's peanut butter-chocolate shake. I watched as the cut on my arm stopped bleeding and disappeared in seconds. Hearing Brooke shout, I capped the drink, scooped up Nekron, and followed Brooke through the forest.

We left the tree line and Brooke instantly ran off through the valley, leaving me trailing in her dust. I managed to catch up to her when she stopped to talk to another camper.

"Kirsten, what's going on?" Brooke demanded. The girl looked past Brooke, her fiery eyes blazing at me. I recognized her as the girl from Ares that had thrown the spear at me. Brooke snapped her fingers in front of the girl's eyes. "Eyes over here, Kirsten. What's going on?"

"I'm not exactly sure," the girl grumbled. "I just got pulled out of practice, everybody did. Chiron put us all on patrol: running the borders, searching the woods. I've been hearing stuff about monsters up by the hills though. And I think I saw the adults with about thirty or forty kids headed that way."

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"Hey, what's going on over there?" I asked, pointing to what was forming into a large crowd by the cabins.

"Not sure, let's check it out," Brooke said, rushing to the group with Kirsten and me. Pushing past the other campers, Brooke and I made it to the front, finally seeing what the crowding was about. A girl, maybe fifteen, sat in the grass. She was covered head to toe in cuts and bruises. The ground around her had started to stain red. Her clothes were ripped to shreds, and her peppery-blonde hair looked like some giant rat had decided to use it as a nest. Tears were free-flowing from her dull brown eyes, leaving watery red rivers on her cheeks. "Lauren," Brooke gasped, moving forward and kneeling next to the girl. "Lauren, what happened?"

"They were there," she sobbed. "We got there, and it was covered in them. Everyone was captive. At…at least s-sixty dead. They got us too. We…we tried to leave. Some helped us, but they're dead now. They…they've been chasing us all the way. Jordan, they g-got him, back in Ohio. Told me to leave, that he'd catch up. I-I saw them. Th-they killed him Brooke. They tried to kill m-me. I could barely get here. F-fifty chasing, at least. B-Brooke he's gone. He's gone!" By now, the entire group was wearing shocked and horrified faces. Some were even crying along with the girl. _What is she talking about_ I thought.

"Lauren, you're not making much sense," Brooke whispered, her eyes shining bright with water. "What happened? You have to speak in full sentences."

"Move!" someone shouted. The crowd broke apart as Chiron and some of the counselors walked in. "What's going on…?" He stopped talking the second he saw Lauren. Brooke stood up and backed away as Chiron knelt next to the girl. He motioned to the adults, and Percy and Nico came forward, picking up the girl and walking away from all of the campers toward the Big House. "All of you, back to your cabins! Not a single half-blood is allowed outside until further notice! If I hear that or catch any of you out here, I swear on the Styx…" Chiron never finished, everybody was already running. Grabbing my wrist, Brooke dragged me to her cabin as the conch rang through the valley again.

"What's going on?" I asked, squishing myself as far as I could into the corner of my bed. All of the mix-bloods were back in the cabin. I might've thought of them as sort of friends, but I still wasn't too fond of them right now.

"Brooke, I think that's a question for you," Nick answered.

"Yeah, especially since you and Krystol were the only one's of us to see her," Alex added.

"I'm not exactly sure," she mumbled back, still pacing the floor of the room. "Lauren wasn't making much sense. As far as I can tell, something happened at the other camp, something that…that killed a lot of demigods. When she and Jordan got there, the remaining campers were captive to whatever hit them. They were taken prisoner too. I'm guessing that some of the others helped them escape, but ended up dead. Whatever is in that camp didn't want them getting here, so they sent out an army of some sort to kill them. They must've gotten…they got Jordan in Ohio, but Lauren got away. She made it here and now she's got to be in the infirmary. That's all I can make out."

"That seems like a lot of info to be saying "that's all"," I said.

"It might seem like that, but it's really not as much info as you think," Monica said.

"Oh, well uh, if you guys say so. So, who are the two you guys keep talking about, those kids, Jordan and Lauren?"

"Jordan and Lauren were an info team that we sent out," Brooke explained. "Jordan was a son of Athena. Lauren is a daughter of Apollo. They were sent out to talk to our other camp."

"You guys have another camp?"

"Yeah, out in California, by the Redwood National Park. This camp was starting to get too full, and a lot of kids had to cross the country just to get here. So a second camp was built on the other side of the U.S. It gave us more room and let's demigods stay closer to home. Plus, we've got a little more…control over on the West coast. Anyway, our camps usually stay in contact pretty well. Over the last three months, the other camp's been having issues with monsters showing up at the borders, a lot of half-bloods getting into battles, that kind of stuff. Within those months, they've been contacting us less, said they were having issues because of all the attacks and stuff. Anyway, about a month ago, they stopped talking altogether. Chiron started getting worried, so he got all of us cabin leaders together and we decided to send a little check party out. We decided that Lauren and Jordan could go. Their mission was simple: get to the camp, find out what was going on, and get back here. That was two and a half weeks ago. It should've taken them only a few days, what with the camp buying plane tickets and giving them a boat load of money. We've been worried for a while. Actually, we cabin leaders agreed a week or so ago to send out another party. We were going to decide who sometime soon, but with Lauren coming back and the rest of this mess she brought with her, I don't what we're gonna do now."

"Well, why don't you just contact them?"

"We've tried," she shrugged. "None of our Iris-messages are getting through, like there's no reception or something out there. We've had kids sending letters, but nobody ever answers. We've even tried calling the few kids with cell phones over there, but nothing. None of us knows what's going on. I've tried getting Chiron to talk to the gods, but I don't know if he has."

"Wait, is Chiron shutting you out?" Charlotte asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like it."

"Is it a bad thing if Chiron doesn't talk to you?" I asked timidly.

"It's not really a bad thing, but it's not normal," Nick answered. "Chiron sees Brooke like he saw Mom when she was young. He's not afraid of sharing info with her. Actually, he usually does it without asking, like he did with Mom. He hardly ever kept anything hidden from Mom, unless he thought he absolutely had to. Maybe he's just doing that again, but with Brooke."

"Yeah, but-," Brooke started, cut off by a knock at the door.

"It's open!" Zach called. The door creaked open to show Tanya.

"Hey guys," she said, trying to smile at us. "There's a… Brooke, are you pacing again?"

"No, why would you think that?" she said, making it sound like the truth.

"You're in the middle of the room with everybody's attention on you. I know you saw Lauren today, so you're bound to be looking for an explanation. Like your sweet mother, you like to pace or do some form of fidgeting when you're figuring something out."

"Okay, so I was pacing," Brooke gave up easily. "Now what were you saying?"

"There's a meeting. All cabin heads must attend."

"Okay," Brooke said, crossing to the door.

"Are we allowed out yet Mom?" Alex asked hopefully.

"Not yet sweetie. I'll see if I can get Chiron to call off what he's doing. Oh, Krystol, Chiron wants you at the meeting."

"Me? Why? I'm not a leader."

"I don't know, he just said to bring you along."

"Well, uh, isn't that kind of dangerous? I mean, knowing who my, uh, dad is and all. Wouldn't it be a better idea if I didn't go to a meeting full of demigods who probably wish I were in Hades right now?"

"That's what I thought, but Chiron still wants you there, and I'm not one to go against his word. Come on, you don't want to keep them waiting," Tanya smiled sadly, turning away from the door with Brooke. Letting out a breath, I slipped off my bed and darted after the pair.

"So, where's this meeting thing at?" I asked, catching up to them.

"In the Big House, down one of the halls," Brooke answered.

"You've been there?"

"Yeah, since I was nine."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Why did you start so early?"

"I'm the senior camper for the mix-bloods," she said, as if that cleared up everything.

"The senior campers are almost always in charge of their cabins," Tanya explained. "When Brooke came here, there weren't any other mix-bloods, she was the first. So, being the first and longest here, she immediately takes control, no matter what age."

"You've been here longer than the others?" I asked Brooke.

"Yeah, I've been here a year longer than the others, except for Alex and Caleb. I've been here for two years more than Alex. His first year was last summer. I've been here about a month longer than Caleb. He stumbled in here just after I did. But that one month was enough to give me the head, and control over him," Brooke said, smiling devilishly at the last bit.

"Oh jeez, Brooke," Tanya sighed, shaking her head. "You two keep going, okay? I've got to get a few more cabins for the meeting."

"Okay," Brooke said. "Will you still be at the meeting?"

"Oh yeah, all of the adults will. This is too important for anyone to miss."

"Okay, I'd hurry. You know how some of them get a bit impatient when they have to wait for their news," Brooke tried to joke, turning with me to the Big House. She stopped short when Tanya reached out and caught her by the elbow.

"Don't let her out of your sight," she warned quietly. "Who knows what the others want with her now? Keep her close; we don't want her getting hurt. And Krystol," Tanya looked at me, "don't even think of leaving Brooke. Stay with her the whole time. You'll be safer that way."

"You…you're trying to keep me safe?" I asked, remembering that Kronos said none of them really cared.

"Of course," Tanya answered, looking bewildered. "Did you think we wouldn't help you? Krys, it doesn't matter who your dad is. He shouldn't have anything to do with how people feel about you. Remember, it's what _you_ do that people should be judging you for, not him." She shot one last look at Brooke then jogged off toward the older cabin area.

"You thought nobody cared about you anymore?" Brooke whispered.

"Um, well I sort of…I don't know Brooke. I've been so confused. I just…I don't know what I think anymore," I mumbled.

"Well, if it means anything to you, I still want to be your friend."

"Really? But, last night, and all day, you…I don't know, it's like you were trying to get away from me."

"I, uh, I had to sort out some uh…things in my head. Now come on. I wasn't joking when I said the counselors hate waiting for news." Walking into the house, Brooke led me down a long, dark hallway to a door that you could barely see in the lighting. Smiling reassuringly, Brooke opened the door and led me into the meeting room. I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what I saw. About twenty kids filled the room, ranging from middle school age to college age. A few were fighting with each other, including that Kirsten girl and a guy I recognized from Apollo. Some were talking normally. Most of what I heard had something to do with Lauren and Jordan. Most were just sitting at the table in the center of the room, waiting for the meeting to start. Glancing to the side, I caught site of Brooke's Athena friend, Jessica. Her head was on the table, covered by her arms, and her shoulders were shaking as she cried silently. Nudging Brooke, I pointed toward Jessica and the two kids trying to comfort her. Taking a breath, Brooke moved toward Jessica, but stopped when somebody shouted above everybody else.

"What is _she _doing here?" a boy hissed, scrunching his nose at me like I was some filthy rat that deserved to die. All of the campers' heads snapped up, most of them changing to vicious snarls and scowls.

"She's allowed here," Brooke glared at the kid. "Chiron wanted her."

"This is a meeting for cabin leaders only, Brooke. You should know that. Besides, who would give a daughter of the most ruthless, destructive, and dangerous enemy to half-bloods and gods a chance to come here? I want to know who even decided to let her stay here."

"The gods did; now shut your trap Tyler."

"You aren't in charge of me, _mix-blood_," he spat out the last word at her. "Besides, why are you of all people defending her? Her dad's the one that almost killed your own parents. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Apparently, the kid had hit a nerve. Almost everybody gasped or changed to shocked looks. I saw Brooke tense and roll on to the balls of her feet, like she was going to attack him. Her face reddened and her eyes grew green.

"What happened between my parents and Kronos," more people gasped at my father's name, "is in the past," she growled slowly. "Whatever happened has _nothing_ to do with Krystol. Is everybody clear on that? And if anybody has an issue with that, then they can take it up with Chiron." Glaring one last time at the boy, Brooke grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward Jessica, everybody's eyes on her. "Hey," she whispered when we got to Jessica and her group. One of the people, a girl about fifteen with a small, silver tiara-band sitting on dark hair, striking blue eyes, and sharp features turned to us, smiling sadly at Brooke and me. Gripping our shoulders, she pushed us off to the side and started talking.

"What's going on Brooke?" she asked "I didn't see that girl earlier, Lauren I think. Lucy did though. She told me that the girl was going on about some attack and the other camp. And Jordan. She said the girl mentioned a boy named Jordan, dead. You're as good as your mother at this stuff. Do you know what happened?" The girl paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "Where are my manners?"

"Probably in Tartarus," Brooke offered up a small grin.

"Oh Brooke, just got to love you," she chuckled, turning to me. "I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant hunter to Artemis. You must be the girl I've heard about. Krystol, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Krystol Lore," I mumbled.

Nodding, Thalia turned back to Brooke. "I got her earlier than everybody. That's one of the perks of having all the adults as friends. Anyway, she came in crying with that boy," Thalia nodded to Jessica and the other kid, "and hasn't stopped since. I can't get her to calm down, let alone talk about what's wrong."

"That's Jessica, head of Athena," Brooke said, staring at her friend. "The kid Jordan, he was another Athenian, her little brother." Thalia just nodded, looked at Jessica one more time, and sat down at one of the chairs around the table. The door swung open again as three or four more kids streamed in, followed by Chiron and the adults.

"Please be seated," Chiron called above all the voices. "Now, we need to begin discussing the events of today and the information we've received."

"Why is Lore here, Chiron?" Tyler shouted out again.

"She is here because I wanted her here. There are to be no further questions upon the subject of Ms. Lore's attendance. Now, back to our discussion. How many of you are aware of the events that took place earlier today?" About half of the kids raised their hands. The others started looking around with lost expressions and shouting questions. Waiting until the campers had quieted, Chiron continued. "Today, a member of the information team we sent out returned to our camp. Lauren arrived followed closely by an army of monsters, fifty strong. We have been told that Jordan Murry was killed in battle with this army in Ohio. A ceremonial burning will be held for him this evening; be certain that your cabin mates are aware of this. Now, we are aware of what is happening in our sister camp. I will allow Ms. Coray to explain." Chiron stepped aside as the door swung open again and Percy and Nico walked in with Lauren walking between them shakily. One of the adults pulled up a chair at the head of the table for her. Instead of sitting, Lauren walked around the room to Jessica, kneeled down, and whispered into her ear. Finally pulling her head up, Jessica nodded, pursing her lips and rubbing at her red eyes. Lauren walked as fast as she could back to her seat. Taking a shaky breath, she looked back up at all of us.

"What do you want to know?" she whispered, her voice ragged and broken.

"Please start at the beginning dear," Chiron said, "from when you and Jordan left."

"Okay." She took another deep breath. "We got out, and everything was fine. The whole way to the airport, the plane ride, landing, everything was fine. We checked into a hotel in Eureka. We got a taxi to take us to Big Lagoon, hiked the rest of the way through back roads and Redwood."

"You guys hiked into that place?" one of the kids spoke up.

"Yeah, it wasn't that far."

"Big Lagoon's only about six or seven miles from the camp," Brooke put in. "That's how most of the campers go through into the camp."

"Right, like I said, not that far," Lauren repeated. "We were a mile or so away I think when it started. We got caught by a patrol of _dracaenae._ We beat them easily, but it kept getting worse. We got hit by about five laistrygonians. We got out with some cuts and bruises. About twenty hellhounds came after that, then two empousae. The group after that got us: a hyperborean, some hellhounds, a few keres, and a manticore. They took us back to the camp, imprisoned us with the other demigods. The place was crawling with the monsters. There must've been hundreds of them. A boy, a kid named Layne I think, he told us what happened. The army attacked them about two weeks before we got there, at the beginning of the month, right when we lost contact. He said that the half-bloods had tried to fight, but there were too many. At least sixty, maybe seventy, kids died. There's only about fifty left, and that was before we escaped. Anyway, none of them really knew why the monsters attacked, or who was leading them. Jordan overheard some of the monsters though. He said that they were complaining about none of the right kids being there and how it would be mad. I don't know what _it_ was. We spent about four or five days in that place. Demigods were being killed every day, even if it was only a few. The monsters wanted info, and nobody would give it to them. Some of the kids that knew the camp well enough helped get us out. Some of the monsters caught on though. Jordan and I barely got away, but I think all of the kids who helped were killed. Part of the army was sent after us, they didn't want us getting here. Jordan and I, we hopped anything we could to get across the country: took a few cargo trains, snuck our way into busses, and even jacked a couple of cars. We weren't fast enough. We hit a dead end in the middle of nowhere in Ohio. The truck we stole ran out of gas. We were just walking through the woods, trying to find any signs of a city or town. The early part of the army, all the fast runners, they started catching us by a bluff area. Jordan thought that if we split up we'd be able to hide easier. He sent me up the bluffs, said he'd go down by the creek by us. I got to the top and tried finding him. He'd just gotten to the creek when they hit him. At least thirty of them ganged up on him. The battle didn't even last five minutes. I probably would've broken down there, but the rest were coming after me. I could hear them crashing through the trees. I barely got out. Finally came across some little train town. I jumped on a train that took me to some little town in New Jersey. I ran from there for two days. They caught up to me when I crossed into New York. Somehow, I made it across to the island with them trailing me and ended up in camp."

I saw mixed reactions as the half-bloods took in what they'd been told. Jessica dropped her head back into her arms as the boy next to her patted her back, looking stricken by the news. Some started wiping at their eyes; others just stared at empty space.

"So," Thalia finally started after what felt like forever, "the other camp's been captured by an army of monsters. What do we do now? We have to help." Murmurs of agreement were passed around the room.

"Yes, we obviously must help our sister camp," Chiron said. "It is simply a matter of how we will help them. But first, there is a bit of information that Lauren has given us that we need to figure out: the leader of this army, and why the monsters attacked."

"They were looking for someone," Jessica whispered hoarsely. "The monsters said that the right kids weren't there."

"That was about a month ago when we lost contact," Brooke said. "We took the Aphrodite kids out of there about a week before we lost communication. Kasey died a few days before that. What if _it_ was with them in the attack, too?"

"What's _it_ exactly?" I asked, knowing half of them were looking at me like I was an idiotic hermit who just crawled out from under a rock.

"It's a monster, child," Chiron explained. "The creature is a mystery with no known purpose, though the gods have a reasonable idea that seems to be correct so far. It is believed to be a servant to the titans, particularly the titan lord. The gods say that it first came about after the downfall of the titans in the first war, created by Kronos's essence as he was destroyed. The creature was brought down by the gods almost as soon as it appeared. However, in the last titan war, the monster was recreated by Kronos's fading essence and escaped. The creature has been impossible to find, let alone destroy. Over the last decade or so, the creature has been responsible for the deaths of eleven half-bloods, a satyr, and a hunter. Sadly, not much is known of the creature. None have ever come up against it and survived."

"Well, that's uh, some nice information I guess," I said, even though it didn't make much sense to me. "But, how do we know it's even really there if no one's survived it?"

"It's there, Krys," Brooke said. "The gods have seen it, and it's left its mark, especially with the way it kills and who it kills."

"Besides," Jessica broke in, her face streaked with new tears, "just because no one's come up against it and lived doesn't mean no mortal's seen it. Actually, there is somebody who's seen it and lived to tell the tale."

"Then why don't you just ask them what the thing is like? You know, ask about its looks, its powers, what it does, that kind of stuff," I insisted, trying to figure out as much about my dad's little servant as possible.

"We have, and she's given us as much help as she can," Brooke muttered, staring at the table. I saw that her eyes had changed, now full of water and the same terror when she'd woken up from that nightmare.

"Indeed Krystol, the child has given us as much information as they can," Chiron said.

"Okay, so it's obvious," Annabeth started, "we have to help California. The servant is probably there and it's looking for an Aphrodite kid. Lauren said the monsters wanted information, and that they're trying to get it out of demigods. They'll keep trying until they get what they want, or until everyone's dead. They have to be stopped before someone gives in."

"Well," a girl from Nyx spoke up, "we decided to send out another group a week or so ago to send another group. Why don't we just send about half the camp and kick them all out?"

"That's suicide," a boy said rolling his eyes. "Even if we send half the camp, we don't know how many we'd be up against. They already beat the other guys, and they had about a hundred there. We've only got like a hundred-twenty here. And we wouldn't even be able to send in any of the Aphrodite kids if the servant's there, so that cancels out about twenty people already."

"Besides," Brooke cut in, "once they figure out that they won't get anything from the other campers, they'll finish them off and come after us. If we send half our camp then they'll probably fall with the others in battle and we lose half of our defenders too. We can't afford something like that."

"Then what do we do?" a boy who looked a lot like Thalia asked.

"You send a team," Rachel said from her seat in the corner of the room. I hadn't even realized she was here.

"Rachel, no offense, but I don't think any size team is going to last long against an army of monsters," Thalia said.

"You'd be surprised Thalia," she said, standing up and walking to the table. "A team will be sent. But this team won't just head off, that'd be suicide. This team will be a quest. You need to decide who will lead it, and make it quick. California won't hold on forever. Send the leader to me when you choose." With that, she walked out of the room.

"Well, I guess we send a team on a quest, huh?" that Tyler guy said.

"Unless you want to go against the Oracle, yeah, we need a team," Kirsten answered. "The question is who we send though."

"Well, we were planning on sending a team anyway," Annabeth said. "You were all told to figure out who you thought should go on the team, so figure out the top person of your choices. We can decide a leader like that. Is that alright by you guys?" she turned to the adults and Chiron, receiving nods from all of them. Looking at the cabin heads again, she turned with the others and stepped back to the walls, letting the kids make their choice.

Fifteen minutes later, Chiron stepped back up to the table. "Campers, it is time to decide," he announced. Everybody started looking around at each other, like they were afraid of sending one of their friends on a death mission, which they probably were. Finally, Jessica stood up and looked Chiron straight in the eye.

"I say we let Brooke lead." Most of the adults got surprised looks on their faces, but none objected. Percy and Annabeth didn't look too thrilled about Jessica's choice, but they kept quiet too.

"I agree; Brooke leads," Kirsten said.

"Brooke," Tyler called.

"I say Brooke," Thalia agreed. Eventually, everybody put in their word, unanimously deciding on Brooke.

"You…you guys want me to lead this?" Brooke asked.

"No, we just all decided to bluff this and not send anybody," Thalia rolled her eyes. "Of course we want you to go Brooke."

"But why me? Plenty of you are older than me, you've been here longer, or you've had more experience."

"Brooke, will you just accept the job?" Jessica pleaded.

"Yeah, besides, you're the best choice of any of us," Thalia added. "You're as smart as your mom and as powerful as your dad. You've been training and learning for three years now. Plus, you're one of the most powerful demigods around right now. With your combo of brain and bronze, this is a job for you. Besides, you'll have others with you."

"No one can force you to take this quest Brooke," Chiron spoke up. "It is your own decision."

"Alright, I'll take the quest," Brooke mumbled after a minute. A collective sigh rose from the table.

"Alright then," Chiron nodded. "Go to Rachel. She will give you your prophecy." Nodding, Brooke stood and walked toward the door as some called out good luck to her. Before she walked out, her parents caught her and dragged her into a hug. Percy whispered something as Annabeth kissed her daughter's head. Then they waved her out the door like she was going to school. "The rest of you are dismissed to your cabins."

Jumping up from my chair, I bolted to the door and out the Big House, sprinting for the cabins before anybody could catch me. Running full speed into the cabin, I slammed the door shut and turned to see six very surprised faces staring at me.

"So how'd it go?" Alex asked.

"Well, I think they want to kill me a little less now," I gasped.

"That's good news," Monica said. "Um, where's Brooke at?"

"Oh, she went to go see Rachel," I said, flopping face down on my bed.

"Why'd she go to Rachel?" I heard Caleb ask.

"To get a prophecy or something," I mumbled into my pillow.

"What did you say?" he asked. Lifting my head, I repeated myself.

"She got a prophecy?" Nick asked, his voice mixed with shock and a little fear as he vaulted off his bed and ran over to me. "They gave her a quest?" Jerking back from him, I nodded my head slowly. "Oh my gods, I can't believe it."

"Well, believe it kiddo," I told him. "Now, can you please uh, back up a little?"

"Oh, sorry." He shuffled backwards. "What happened at the meeting? What'd they talk about?"

"Um, I think I'll let Brooke explain. She probably understood it more than I did anyway." With that, I dropped back on my pillow and drifted into sleep.

I was in a large room. Couches and chairs sat ripped and clawed all around with a few monsters I couldn't name lounging on them. In the middle of the room was some kid, a boy with dirty blonde hair and purplish eyes. Another monster, a sphinx, stood before him, barking out questions.

_Where are they _it hissed.

_I don't know who you're talking about_ the boy whispered.

_The Aphrodite brats, you idiot! Where are they?_

_We don't have any here. They were all killed when you attacked._

_No, they weren't. It would've managed the death of one, yet it didn't this time._

_Maybe the beast is losing its touch then. _Quicker than I could blink, the sphinx lashed out, slashing open the kids arm and throwing him to the ground

_They left. Where are they?_

_They're gone, dead. The idiots could never defend themselves._

_You're lying!_

_No I'm not. There aren't any more here, and it's your fault! _Howling, the monster raised its paw to strike again when another voice sounded through the room.

_Stop! _A girl stood at the door. She walked briskly to the sphinx, and I could see her form waver as she moved from a beautiful girl to a pale, messed up version of a vampire. _It wants him alive. He's the only one left alive that helped those two. Besides, he also gave them all their information. He may be useful to us._

_He refuses to answer anything _the sphinx growled.

_He will, eventually. For now, let's keep him from the others _the demon smiled, motioning to two eight-foot giants sitting on a sagging couch. They got up grunting, grabbed the kid, and dragged him down a hall to an empty room, throwing him in and locking the door. Taking in a shaking breath, the kid curled up on his side.

_Please be there guys _he whispered. I felt myself move toward the kid and crouch next to him, somehow knowing what to say.

_Lauren's here, she's safe now. You guys did a good job helping them. Just hold on, we'll have somebody out to help soon. Just hold on. We're coming Layne. _Snapping his eyes open, the boy sat bolt upright, looking around wildly.

_Is someone there? _I realized that who couldn't really see me. He must've heard the barest hints of my voice though and freaked out.

_Just wait Layne _I whispered again, watching as he started to settle back down. I felt a sudden tug in my stomach, and the dream ended.

I woke up to Nick shaking my shoulder.

"Nick, what's going on?" I asked, looking around and finding everybody but him and Alex gone.

"They let everybody go back out," he said. "We're wanted at the Big House, all three of us." Swinging out of bed, I ran my hands through my tangled hair and followed the boys out the cabin door.

"Why do they want us?" I yawned, noticing the sky was now blood-red with a sunset.

"Not sure," Alex answered shortly. "Will came down and said Chiron wanted the three of us and we had to get to the Big House as soon as possible."

"We know it's definitely important though," Nick added. Reaching the Big House, Alex yanked the door open and we walked in. The room was full with all the adults, including Rachel, Chiron, and Brooke.

"Well Brooke," Tanya said, "they're here, just like you wanted. Now will you talk to us?" Smiling at her teachers, Brooke turned and pointed at us.

"I want you guys to be on my quest," she spoke loudly.

**AN: Well, there you go, another chapter all done. Hope you guys like it. I guess that didn't take too long, but I should be able to update faster since school ends soon. Anyway, thanks to anyone who's stuck with this story this whole time. Let's hope it picks up again. Sorry if it doesn't soon, but I let the story go on its own. I don't really plan it, I just write it as it goes. So, I guess all that's left is the whole R&R thing. Well, you know what to do. **


	9. The Quest Begins

**Chapter 9: The Quest Begins**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO**

"You want what?" Nick asked, staring with wide eyes at his sister.

"You heard me," Brooke said. "I want you three on my quest."

"Um, Brooke, you do know that only three people are supposed to go on quests, right?" Tanya asked.

"No, I thought we could have twenty people," Brooke gasped in mock surprise.

"Brooke," Percy warned with a tone that could've scared a shark into the Mariana Trench.

"Sorry, Dad," she mumbled back. "Yes, I know we're only supposed to have three people per quest, but I really want all of them. I've got a feeling that I'm gonna need them all."

"This is a very dangerous request, Brooke," Chiron said slowly. "You are aware of what the possibilities are if the rules of the quests are broken."

"Exactly," Percy agreed. "You remember what I told you about that quest to Mount Tam, don't you? We took five people, and only three came back. One of them wasn't even somebody officially on the quest." I felt a huge lump form in my throat. People died on these things? What the heck were they thinking then? These people were prepared to send _children_ on a mission that they could and probably would die on?

"True," Brooke sighed, "but not in all cases. Clarisse had a quest and took nobody with her."

"Yeah," Clarisse frowned, "and I barely survived it. Plus, Grover almost married a Cyclops and got stewed, _I_ almost married a Cyclops, then your mom and dad nearly got killed by the Cyclops, and we nearly drowned on a sinking ship. And I don't even know what happened after I got out of there."

"Okay, but you all still survived. And Mom took four on her quest. She even came back with another."

"True," Annabeth said, "but let's not forget everything that happened. Do you have any clue how many times we nearly died? Not to mention the point that one of the most horrible monsters to ever exist was released due to that quest."

"Yeah, but you all lived," Brooke insisted. "Besides, you took four on your quest based off a feeling. Why can't I?"

"Because it's an endangerment to other people's lives, Brooke," Percy sighed.

"But that goes along with every quest. Besides, it's my quest. Shouldn't I be allowed to choose how many people I want? "

"Brooke, you don't even know if they want to go," Nico broke in. "You might be willing to take that risk, but they might not be."

"Oh, well uh…" Brooke trailed.

"Well of course I'll go," Nick said. "I'm not letting Brooke have all the fun here."

"Same," Alex agreed, throwing his arm around Nick's shoulders. "Besides, you can't have a tag team with only one person." Brooke smiled and mouthed a thank you at the boys, then looked to me.

"Um, what about you Krys?" she asked me. Her normal expression was on her face, but her eyes betrayed her, just like her mom's did. She was desperate. Her eyes were pleading, begging me to say yes. This was a hard call. If she'd asked me a week or so ago, I would've called her nuts and flat out refused. After all, I could die on this thing, and I really wasn't sure if I even knew her anymore. I might never see my mom again if I went, and she didn't deserve that. Besides, what good would I be on a quest? I'd been here for less than a week. I'd had hardly any training and apparently some form of power that I had no idea how to control, yet she wanted to take me on some mission against who knew how many monsters. But still. Brooke was my friend, and I couldn't just leave her hanging. And this could be the perfect chance for me to prove I wasn't an enemy.

"Fine," I sighed, "I'll go."

"Oh gods, thank you!" Brooke squealed. I yelped as she slammed into me and wrapped me up in a hug.

"Can't breathe, Brooke," I choked out.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, letting go of me and turning back to the adults. "There, they all agreed. Now can I take them all with me?" All the adults turned to Chiron, letting him give the final word. I saw Percy's and Annabeth's expressions change to the same, desperate look that Brooke had just worn, like they were begging as much as Brooke for Chiron to sway their way.

"I suppose you can, Brooke," he finally chose.

"Yes!" Brooke shouted, jumping and pumping her fist in the air.

"I don't see why you are so excited. You would have taken them with you whether I approved or not. After all, you are as stubborn and resistant as your father," Chiron smiled, glancing at a red-faced Percy.

"Thanks, Chiron," Percy grumbled. "So, do you mind telling us your prophecy, Brooke?"

"Oh right, that," she said, dropping her eyes. "Um, I think it went like this:

Wizened sea, travel west

Fight the creatures in our nest

Success to the victors as before

Drive the servant from our lands once more."

For a few minutes, everybody was silent and still, trying to decipher to prophecy. Finally, I spoke up.

"So," I started slowly, "what exactly does that mean?"

"Well, wouldn't we all like to know that?" Clarisse muttered, slumping down on a couch.

"Well," Annabeth started, "the first line is clear. There are only two who have the combo of wisdom and sea: Brooke and Nick. This is Brooke's quest and Nick's going, so I think we'll do well with that line."

"Yes," Chiron agreed. "The second line is fairly simple as well. You four shall go to our "nest" as the prophecy has put it and fight the monster army. However, the third line has me concerned. Obviously, a battle will occur. The victors of this battle, it seems, will be the same victors as before."

"So, does that mean that the monsters are gonna win?" Alex asked in a small voice. Nobody seemed brave enough to entertain the thought.

"Well, the uh, fourth line sounds good though, doesn't it?" Brooke said hopefully.

"Maybe, let's hope it is," Tanya said.

"I believe it's time for you four to eat," Chiron interrupted. "We can speak more after that. Now go, it has been a long day for everyone." Nodding, we stalked out of the Big House in a quiet clump. As soon as the door closed, the others went berserk.

"Oh my gods!" Nick shouted. "You actually want us on your quest?"

"No, I want a load of monkeys on my quest," Brooke smirked.

"Well, with these two, is there much of a difference?" I asked.

"True," Brooke agreed as the boys shouted at me. "I'm just surprised that they actually let all four of us on a quest."

"I know, they almost never let more than three on a quest," Alex said.

"Well, what were they talking about when they were going on about other quests, the ones that didn't have three?" I asked.

"Oh, those things," Brooke said, sounding a little uneasy. "Well, quests in general aren't easy, even if there are three people. But there's like this unwritten rule that only three people go on each quest. For some reason, whenever there's not three, it's like the quest knows it's unbalanced. Almost all the time, only three come back. Those quests they were talking about, they all went against the rule. Clarisse was the only one on her quest, but that wasn't too horrible."

"Yeah, if you don't count nearly marrying a Cyclops and almost drowning in the sea of monsters as horrible," Nick joked.

"Yeah, that's true," Brooke smiled. "Then there was that quest they took to Mount Tam trying to save Lady Artemis. They had some uh, major issues on that one."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Uh, we don't generally go into detail on that one, not that we really even know much about it," Nick answered, glancing at Alex.

"Oh, uh, okay. Well, what about that one Annabeth had?"

"Yeah, um, that was a pretty bad quest by everybody's standards," Brooke said. "Four went on that one and barely came back. They ended up fighting against some crazy giant, three-bodied monsters, fire-breathing horses, and a bunch of other vicious little creatures. Oh, our dad also blew up Mount Saint Helens and uh, Kronos re-entered the world."

"Your dad did _what_?"

"Blew up Mount Saint Helens."

"Wow, um, no offense, but-."

"Our family's crazy?" she cut me off. "Yeah, we know, we've been told too many times. Man, camp's pretty bare." Looking around, I noticed the camp _was_ empty. "What time is it?"

"5:43," I answered automatically. "Wait, how…?"

"Oh great," Alex grumbled. "We've practically missed dinner, and now she's got a clock in her head."

"Oh, ha-ha, very funny, Alex," I jeered.

"Any time, Krys," he smiled. "And I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving, so see ya." Half turning, he darted across the grass with Nick to the mess hall.

"Boys," Brooke and I mumbled, jogging after the two.

By the time we finally got to dinner, got our food, and made all of the offerings, dinner was over. Chiron let us stay to eat though, saying we'd need all of our strength, we might not get another good meal for a while, blah, blah, blah. All of us agreed to skip the bonfire and dragged our butts into the cabin. I collapsed onto my bed and was almost asleep when I saw the others moving and throwing stuff in backpacks.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked groggily.

"Packing for the quest," Brooke answered. "We leave pretty early, so it's best to be packed and ready before then so we can leave right away." Groaning, I rolled off my bed and started pulling clothes and other stuff I thought I'd need out of my trunk.

"Here, you might need this," Nick said, tossing me a worn backpack. "It's old, but it's still in decent shape." Mumbling thanks, I stuffed everything into the bag and flopped back onto my bed. I was out like a light in five minutes.

My vision flickered on to show me Tartarus again. _Oh great, here we go again_ I thought.

_It appears the girl is lost _I heard Kronos say. A loud grunt sounded through the cavern. If I'd had any control in this dream, I'd probably be shaking all the way to bones. _And it appears that you too have failed me. You are given access to an entire camp, yet you can't manage the death of a single, useless, pathetic Aphrodite child. This is a disgrace. _The grunting rang through the cave again, and then a guttural voice that I could hardly understand spoke.

_Forgive me, my lord. The children were gone. The last trace was at least a week old. But I know they did not die. The have left._

_Of course they have! You have become careless, two demigods dead within six months. You should have known they'd be cautious. And there can be no denying it that the deaths are all because of you, not after New York. How could you have let that brat see you? And of all the demigods in the world, you had to let Jackson's brat see you kill that Athenian! Because of her, every half-blood, god, and ally to them is on caution. Because of her, I may have lost my chance of infiltrating their defenses with Lore. She has put every one of our enemies on edge and brought my so called daughter to the gods' side._

_My lord, please forgive-._

_No! You have lost your prey and our chance to gain a powerful ally is nearly destroyed. But not all is lost yet, my servant. No doubt the half-bloods of New York intend to help those in California. See to it that they fail if they arrive. We may even be able to bring them down before they get anywhere near their precious camp._

_And if I am to capture them, my lord?_

_Then bring them to me, and I will show those brats true fear, fear that they will beg for death to escape. Do not fail me this time._

_Of course, my lord._

The image faded, turning into another. I was in a building, probably an attic given the sloping roof. The room smelt musty and old, like something had crawled up here to die and was sprayed over with air freshener. All kinds of mementoes were piled on tables and the floor: swords, shields, clothes, armor pieces, and what looked a lot like monster pieces. Stepping to the window at the edge of the room, I looked out to find the camp. The sun was just rising over the ocean, turning the sky pink and orange. I saw a few adults talking to Chiron out on Half-Blood Hill. Other than them, the camp was completely bare.

_She lies _I heard behind me. Whipping around, I was met by a girl. She was somewhat transparent, kind of like I'd imagine a ghost would be. She had long, dark hair, wore a long dress, and was covered in bracelets and necklaces with etched beads. She couldn't have been any older than Nick. She would've been really pretty, but her eyes scared the crap out of me. They were glowing green, like the girl was possessed or something.

_Excuse me_ I said. _Yes! I've got control_ I thought.

_The girl lies. Beware the servant, for your quest shall fail._

_What?_

_Beware, Krystol Lore. She lies to protect, and it will be her downfall. You will fail._

_Wait, what the Hades are you talking about?_

_I can tell no more. You will fail._

_Well you can't just tell me we're going to fail! I mean, why are we going to fail? What's going to happen?_

_I can share no more. I'm sorry, but you will fail, child, and one shall suffer horribly for it._ The green in the girl's eyes started to expand, overtaking the girl's form and shaping into a snake. The snake hissed and dove for me.

I sat bolt upright and started screaming at the top of my lungs. I heard the others yelling at me when a hand clamped down over my mouth. Twisting around, I shoved them away and heard a thump. Trying to calm down, I glanced up. Everybody was staring at me. Brooke, Nick, and Alex were already dressed and ready to go. Their bags were sprawled around their feet and they were staring wide-eyed at me. The others were still leaning over their trunks and beds in pajamas. Looking down, I saw Caleb propped up on his arms next to my bed.

"Um, s-sorry guys," I apologized shakily.

"Yeah, uh, that's okay, Krys," Brooke said slowly, still staring at me. "Hey, guys, uh why don't you go ahead and get ready. There shouldn't be too many people at the bathrooms yet. It's still early." Nodding and mumbling, the others filed out of the cabin.

"You know, they're really good at picking up on your "can-you-leave-so-we-can-talk-about-something-that's-important-that-I-don't-want-anyone-to-know-about" hints," Nick said to Brooke.

"Oh shut up, Nick," she smirked, crossing over to my bed. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I uh, I'm fine guys," I lied.

"You sure, Krys?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Then why were you screaming?" Alex asked.

"Oh, uh, it was just a nightmare," I told him, swinging out of my bed and standing. I noticed the others all glance at each other before turning their eyes back to me. "What?"

"You had a nightmare?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, but so what," I shrugged. "I have nightmares a lot." _Not many like that though_ I thought.

"You have nightmares a lot?" Brooke asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, so what?"

"Um, Krys, what are your nightmares about?"

"What does it matter? I mean, they're just dreams, right?"

"For mortals usually. But half-blood nightmares are rarely ever just dreams," she explained.

"Oh," I said, even though I'd already started figuring that out. "Well, they're mostly just scenes of the past, I think." I saw interest immediately spark into all of their eyes. Brooke opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Hey, I'll get dressed real quick, alright? I mean, we don't want to start our quest off by being late." Pulling a pair of clothes from my trunk, I hurried into the bathroom to avoid any more questions.

Waltzing out about five minutes later, I found everybody back in the cabin. The questers were waiting by the door with all of our backpacks. Scooping up my pack, I heard the others calling out good luck to us. Nodding to my short term cabin mates, I followed the others out the door.

"So where are we going?" I asked, hoping they'd dropped the matter of my dreams.

"Chiron said to come to the hill before 7:30," Brooke answered. "We'd get a ride from Argus down to the bus station."

"Who?"

"Have you seen that big, blonde guy who looks like a surfer?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, the one with all of the eyes?" Alex added. "That's Argus."

"Yeah, he's head of security around here," Nick finished.

"Do you two have, like, the same train of thought or something?" I asked.

"Sort of," they answered together.

"Scary, isn't it?" Brooke whispered playfully.

"Just a little," I chuckled.

"Would you two just shut up?" Nick growled.

"Aw, but that's no fun," Brooke teased. "Besides, you two are the best entertainment within fifty miles of this place."

"That's it," Nick hissed, jumping at Brooke. Yelping, Brooke dodged him and took off running for the hill, laughing as Nick chased her down.

"And she says we're the entertainment," Alex sighed. "Come on, we need to catch up to them."

Alex and I finally got to the top of the hill to find Nick shouting at Brooke while she had his arms twisted around his back.

"Brooke, let go of your brother," Annabeth sighed. She, Percy, Nico, Tanya, and Chiron were all gathered around the two.

"Fine," she grumbled. Giving his arms another quick pull and hearing him yell, she finally let go and stepped back. Standing up and rubbing his shoulders nick glared at his sister for a few seconds before tackling her to the ground. Brooke yelped and brought her legs up close, pushing them under her brother and launching him back off her. Jumping back to her feet, she got ready to charge again when Percy let out a sharp whistle. The two immediately stopped, wandering back to the rest of us with smirks plastered to their faces.

"Now, even if you are just playing, you guys don't need to be doing that on a quest got it?" Annabeth told them. "You need to work together as much as possible."

"Yeah, 'cause you and Dad were great at that," Nick muttered, getting Brooke to giggle as Annabeth's face turned red.

"Point is," Percy stepped in, "try to get along. We can personally tell you that fighting gets you nowhere."

"Alright, we'll try not to fight," Brooke said, rolling her eyes. Smiling, her parents wrapped her and Nick into one giant family hug. Alex walked over to his own parents and gave them each a quick hug. Waving bye, I followed the three down the hill to a white van at the road. Jumping in, the van took off, taking us back into the city.

"Let's just hope this ride will be a little more controlled, eh Brooke," Alex grinned, receiving a punch from Brooke. We spent a half hour in complete silence. We got to 102nd St and Park Ave when Nick finally spoke up.

"Hey, Argus, I know you're supposed to take us to the bus station, but do you mind if we detour? We need to get off on 97th." Argus raised an eyebrow over about half of his eyes. "I know, but we really need to go there. Please?" Argus simply turned back to the road and kept driving.

"What are you doing?" Brooke whispered.

"Nick and I had an idea," Alex answered. "It'll only take a few minutes."

"Why do I have a feeling you guys are getting ready to do something stupid?"

"Because we usually do," Nick guessed. Within ten minutes, Argus was pulling onto 97th.

"Right here," Nick said, getting Argus to stop in front of some old, rundown warehouse. "Thanks Argus." He opened the door and jumped out, followed by Alex.

"You can head back to camp, Argus," Brooke said. "I think I know what they're planning. We can handle it from here." She hopped out of the van with me as Argus drove off, apparently trusting Brooke's word.

"I can't believe you guys made us detour our quest to _this_ place," Brooke muttered.

"Oh come on, they've got some good stuff here," Nick insisted. "Besides, they usually get some good information, too." Looking up and down the street to make sure we weren't being watched, Nick opened the door to the warehouse and ushered us in. The place was probably only a 20 feet-by-20 feet space, filled with a bunch of junk like rusted bikes, piles of bricks, old gardening tools, rotted furniture, and a bunch of other stuff hidden under sheets. Nick and Alex walked past everything to the back of the building.

"Why are we in an old warehouse?" I asked. "It's just full of useless garbage."

"Of course it is," Brooke muttered. "It's the cover these guys use."

"Who?"

"You'll meet them soon enough." We stopped at the back of the room, right in front of a door that I could barely see. Nick tapped lightly on the door, answered by a huge bark and a lot of growling.

"I̱mítheos," Alex whispered at the door, which I registered as demigod. The barking immediately stopped and the door swung open a few inches.

"Good, they didn't change the password," Nick sighed.

"Yeah, we don't need a repeat of November," Alex shuddered. Shaking his head, Nick pushed the door open and led us in. The room was definitely bigger than the warehouse. I was about to ask how they could hide a building that was the size of a football field behind that little warehouse when I remembered how much of a role magic and the Mist played in the mortal-immortal-world-combination thing. Sets of polished armor, swords, shields, spears, and all kinds of weapons lined shelves. Other shelves held hundreds of books written in ancient Greek. In the back of the shop were freezers, counters, and boxes of food. Some shelves were full of other things I didn't know what to call, but I knew they probably weren't things I wanted used against me. A loud, playful bark brought my attention from everything. A black dog with bright red eyes and huge teeth was rubbing up against Alex's shoulder. I nearly screamed at it, but Nick locked me with a look that clearly said shut up or become dog kibble.

"Hey Tromero," Nick said, rubbing the beast's head.

"What is that?" I whispered to Brooke.

"Hellhound," she answered. "Its name is Tromero, or Terrible, if you didn't catch that. He's the guard dog for this place. For the most part, he's just here to make sure mortals don't wander in."

"And it's tame?"

"Yeah, it's been raised to be friendly to half-bloods since birth. It still has some monster instincts though, so don't get crazy around it, and that includes swinging around weapons. Speaking of which," she smiled, following the boys deeper into the building, "did you remember to grab your weapons." I felt my draw drop and eyes widen. I hadn't grabbed them this morning. What kind of a half-blood forgets their means of defense? "You left them, didn't you?"

"Well uh, see, I uh-," I blundered.

"Don't worry about it," she sighed. "I have them anyway."

"Wait, you knew I'd forget them?"

"No, I just got them back this morning. I had some work done on them. Since we were going on a quest, I thought you might like it if your weapons were easy to carry. So when you went to bed, I grabbed them and ran down to the forges. Thankfully, Tyson was still there. I asked if he could mess with them a little and he agreed. He's pretty good with disguising weapons. He actually made shields for my dad and brother that pass as watches in the mortal world. Here." She handed me a chain bracelet with a sword pendant and a disc pendant hanging from it. "He said that you press the pendant for the weapon you want and it'll come out; same thing if you want to put a weapon away."

"Thanks," I said, taking the bracelet and latching it around my wrist. We stopped behind the boys at the main counter. I started fiddling with my bracelet.

"What is that?" Nick asked, catching my movements out of the corner of his eye. I opened my eyes to answer when my sword flew out from the bracelet and clattered to the ground. The hellhound instantly jumped onto the counter and howled, bracing itself for a jump.

"Stop!" somebody yelled, running up one of the aisles toward us. "Come on, Tromero, you know these people. Get down." Dropping its head, the dog hopped off the counter and stalked down another aisle. "Sorry 'bout that guys. You okay?" The guy looked about the same age as the camp teachers. He had messy brown hair and bright brown eyes. A smirk spread across his face, reaching all the way to his slightly pointed ears.

"We're demigods, Connor, of course we are," Alex smiled.

"True," another man said, walking up next to Connor. The two looked almost exactly alike, except that the other was an inch or two taller than Connor. "I see you two finally got Brooke to come in here."

"More like forced," she muttered, even though a small grin was playing at her lips.

"And who's this pretty little lady?" Connor asked, looking at me.

"Oh please, Connor," Nick gagged.

"What? You always need to make the customer feel at home."

"You don't need to flatter me," I said slowly.

"Oh good. That felt way too creepy to say. Anyway, you got a name kid?"

"Um, Krystol."

"Nice to meet you, Krystol. I'm Connor Stoll, son of Hermes."

"And I'm Travis Stoll, this dork's brother," the other guy said. "You got a full name kiddo?"

"Uh, yeah. Krystol Lore." The two froze at my name as the grins fell off their faces.

"Krystol Lore?" Connor asked. "Like, _the_ Krystol Lore."

"You know who I am?"

"Girly, if you're the child of a Big Three, your name spreads pretty fast. _You're_ the child of a freaking titan, the leader of the titans, no less. Everybody knows your name by now."

"Oh, well uh, I didn't know being Kro-." I cut off as Brooke slapped her hand over my mouth.

"We'll be back," she said quickly, giving her brother and cousin a nod. Scooping up my sword, she dragged me down an aisle. "Okay, first thing you need to know: _never_ say names out here. Monsters, titans, even gods sometimes, don't use them. We aren't really supposed to at camp, but we've got borders there to protect us. Out here, there's nothing to help us. Remember, names have power. And you really need to be careful using any titan names. Not only are they just generally bad, a lot of demigods and our allies had to fight the titans, and they hate the memories. A lot of people died in the war, and a lot of people are still hurting from it, even people who didn't participate."

"That's why they got mad at the camp," I figured.

"Pretty much," she nodded. "Those two were in the war. They lost a few brothers and sisters. They really hate your dad, no offense."

"Why would that offend me? I'm not sure I can really stand him either." I'm not sure what I saw in Brooke after saying that: joy, shock, guilt? There was just too much to that girl still. "Why don't we uh, head back and make sure the boys aren't being a bunch of nimrods, eh?"

"Alright, that's probably a good idea anyway. I need to make sure they aren't doing anything stupid," she chuckled.

"-teen peanut butter and jellies, eight waters, and four fires, right?" Travis was saying.

"Yep, exactly," Nick answered.

"Alright, give us a few minutes, we'll have it out for you," Connor said.

"Thanks," Nick called to them.

"May I ask what you two just got?" Brooke said.

"Eh, just sixteen sandwiches, eight bottles of water, twelve chocolate bars, four bags of trail mix, you know, just food and water so we'll be able to live along the way," Alex smirked.

"Uh huh, and what was he saying about the fires?"

"Well, uh, we sort of got a few pots of Greek fire," Nick said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Seriously guys? Don't you think you're starting to get addicted to using that stuff?"

"Hey, it's useful, isn't it?" Alex complained. Brooke huffed and rolled her eyes, dropping the argument.

"Here you go guys," the Stolls said together, dropping everything on the counter. "Need anything else?"

"Yeah," Nick said slowly. He looked all around before going on. "Did you hear what happened in California?"

"Kid," Travis started, "we're the Stoll brothers. Of course we've heard about it."

"Okay, do you have any info about it?"

"Why would you think we have information?"

"You're the Stoll brothers, aren't you?" he smirked.

"Now I remember why I like this kid," Connor smiled.

"Alright, what'd you want to know?" Travis asked.

"Anything you've got," Alex said.

"It's been taken over by monsters," Connor said.

"No duh, Sherlock," Brooke grumbled. "Pretty much everybody knows that by now."

"Alright then, snooty pants. Only forty-two demigods are still alive."

"What?" all four of us shouted.

"Oh, did we find something little Brooky didn't know?" Travis mocked.

"But Lauren told us yesterday that there were still at least fifty there," Brooke cried in horror.

"True, but she and the other kid escaped over a week ago. A lot's happened since then. Speaking of which, how're those two doing?"

"Lauren got back yesterday, all torn up and stuff. Jordan died in Ohio on the way back." The Stolls dropped their heads for a few seconds before going on.

"Well," Connor started again, "only forty-two are left now. Monsters are on constant patrol around the camp, so good luck walking in there. They've also been forcing the pegasi to work for them, so they've got lighter monsters zoning the skies for a good five miles in every direction. The army's about two hundred strong. Apparently the demigods didn't go down without a fight though. They took about a hundred-fifty monsters with 'em. None of the powerful kids were even there yet. With any luck, Chiron will get the satyrs to the guys and keep anymore from heading in to the camp. We can't afford to lose any more campers. Anyway, they've got some nasty little monsters over there, too. A lot that fought in the war are looking for revenge."

"You've probably figured out by now that you can't IM anyone in there," Travis took over. "And we wouldn't recommend shadow traveling into the camp either. Not with that many monsters running loose. A lot of the small towns nearby are covered in disguised monsters, probably scoping out for more half-bloods, so you'll want to watch them. And you guys need to watch your backs in that place. As far as we know, the servant's there. It led the attack, and it's still looking for prey. We got lucky having the Aphrodite kids taken out of there, but you know half-blood luck. It won't last much longer."

"Alright, thanks guys," Nick said.

"One question, why haven't you shared this with Chiron and the others?" Brooke scowled.

"Well, little Annabeth, we didn't get this information until about midnight and haven't gotten the chance to tell them yet," Connor snapped.

"Say, where do you guys get your information?" Alex ventured.

"That's need to know, kiddo," Travis said, pushing everything the boys had bought toward us. "Now it's about time you four got out of here. You're too powerful to be sticking in one place for too long. Who knows if you've already attracted some monsters?" At the mention of monsters, we all started stuffing the supplies into our bags. "You guys owe us about a hundred bucks."

"What?" Brooke gasped, her eyes bulging in her head.

"There's no way that all cost a hundred," Alex insisted.

"Hey, that Greek fire's not cheap, kid," Connor shot back.

"Come on! We're trying to cross the country here to save an entire camp! We kind of need that-." Nick threw a hand over Alex's mouth.

"What about drachmas?" he asked.

"For that much stuff? I'd say ten, maybe twelve," Travis shrugged.

"I'll give you five."

"Ten."

"Five."

"Nine."

"Five."

"Nine, and unless you want to get kicked out of this place, I'd suggest you start adjusting your price."

"Six."

"Eight."

"Seven and I'll throw in twenty bucks."

"Make it thirty and you've got yourself a deal."

"Fine, seven drachmas and thirty bucks."

"Nick!" Brooke yelled. "We don't have that kind of money to spend."

"Shut up, Brooke. I know what I'm doing." Winking at Alex, he started pulling cash and gold coins from his pockets. "There, thirty bucks and seven drachmas."

"Nice. Hey, what are you doing with that kind of money in your pocket?" Connor asked.

"You never know when you'll get hit by monsters. That stuff comes in handy." I noticed that Nick had started rocking on his feet. _Oh great_ I thought. _He's done something stupid._

"True. Well, hope to see you kids later. Be careful on that quest. We'd hate to lose our favorite customers," Travis grinned, scooping up the money.

"Yeah, see ya," Alex said, sounding a little nervous. The boys whipped around and started pulling Brooke and I back to the door.

"Don't run, but walk fast," Nick muttered under his breath

"Why?" Brooke asked, pulling her arm away from her brother. "What did you do?"

"Just keep moving," Alex whispered. We got halfway through the store before the Stolls started yelling at us, mixing between English and Greek.

"Get back here you little thieves!"

"Tromeró, tous stamatí̱soume!" I heard the hell hound start howling again as his claws scratched at the ground.

"Run!" Nick shouted. We flew for the door, still a good fifty feet away. Turning back, I saw the dog gaining on us.

"We're not gonna make it!" I cried.

"I thought these guys were your friends!" Brooke screamed.

"They are. They just don't like it when the tables turn and they get cheated," Alex smiled. Skidding to a halt, he turned and pointed at the hellhound. "Nekrós, epíthesi̱!" Half a dozen warrior skeletons crawled out of the ground at his words, raising their swords and flying at the hell hound as Alex spun and darted after us. Swords and claws started clashing together and the hound howled with rage. Twenty feet from the door, I heard one of the Stolls shout out another order.

"Táv̱roi , bar tis pórta!" Pounding rang through the store as two giant, gold bulls stormed down the end aisles, blocking our way to the door.

"Kolchída táv̱roi! How the Hades did they get those?" Brooke yelled. Ripping a water bottle from his backpack, Nick pulled the cap off and pointed at the bulls.

"Neró, makriá!" he shouted. Water shot from the bottle, wrapped around the bulls, and pushed them from the door. Sliding into the door, Alex ripped it open and pushed Brooke and I through.

"And this is why you never underestimate kids!" Alex called to the Stolls before Nick shoved him through the door and slammed it closed. We all sat around the door for five minutes, trying to catch our breath, before anyone spoke.

"You two…are a bunch…of morons," Brooke gasped.

"Thanks," the boys said together.

"Is it just me, or do you guys love speaking in Greek?" I asked.

"It's kind of impulse," Brooke answered. "Like if somebody grew up on one language and then learned another, they'll sometimes fall into their original language without noticing."

"Besides," Nick added, "it always seems like the words and whatever they summon is stronger in the older languages."

"That and it just sounds cooler to yell in Greek than English," Alex joked.

"Come on," Nick smiled, "let's get out of here before they send something else after us." Climbing to our feet, we stalked out of the warehouse and back into New York. The sun was now shining bright and the streets were clogged with cars, busses, motorcycles, and walking pedestrians.

"Man, how long were we in that place?" Brooke asked.

"Almost an hour," I answered quickly.

"Okay, the whole "there's-a-clock-inside-my-head" thing is really cool, but it's starting to creep me out," Nick said.

"Same," Brooke agreed. "But just watch, it'll be useful when we're in the middle of nowhere. And put that thing away," she pointed to my sword still in my hand. "You're gonna freak out the mortals." Tapping the sword charm on my bracelet, my sword shot out my hand and disappeared into the pendant.

"Whoa," Alex marveled. "Let me guess, Tyson did it." Brooke nodded, then turned and walked back down the street. Looking up and down the road, Brooke held out her hand and let out a whistle almost as loud as her dad's. Almost immediately, a taxi pulled up next to us.

"Well that was fast," Brooke said. We all crammed into the back seat, barely closing the door before the driver sped off down the road.

"Where to?" the driver asked gruffly.

"The nearest bus station, please," Brooke said, closing the window that separated the driver from us. "Okay, question time. What did you idiots do to make the Stolls go crazy?"

"Oh, well, you know how the deal was seven drachmas and thirty bucks, right?" Nick started. "Well, we gave them the thirty bucks, but we sort of used our version of the drachma."

"What?"

"Well, we only do it when we're running low on real drachmas. We just take two quarters and make them look like drachmas."

"And how do you do that exactly?"

"Oh, it's actually really easy," Alex said. "We gather up a bunch of quarters and give all of them to Nick. From there, he uses his little water magic to speed up the rusting process. After that, you glue two quarters together and start chucking them at a wall, dumpster, pretty much anything rock solid so that the quarters get all beat up and chipped. Then you just paint them over with a light coat of gold paint so that the rust still shows a little. And voila, you get a bunch of fake drachmas that look real. There're still a few issues though, like weight. And then we always ride on the hope that nobody looks too closely at them."

"So you guys cheated the cheats, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Nice," she smiled, giving both of them high-fives. We all jolted into each other as the taxi jumped a curb and stopped in an empty alley. Yanking open the separating window, Brooke started giving the driver a peace of her mind. "What are you doing? I said we needed a bus station, not some run down, disgusting alley."

"Issue with engine," the driver grumbled. Throwing open the door, he stepped out reveal a man close to seven feet tall with huge muscles. The passenger door popped open and another man with the same general appearance stepped out.

"Didn't notice that there were two guys," Nick whispered.

"Neither did I," Brooke mumbled. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Get out," one of the men said. "We have to take care of taxi."

"How about we don't and you learn some proper English?" Nick smiled sarcastically.

"We said out," the other man growled. Seeing none of us move, he pulled the back door open and yanked out Alex, throwing him to the ground. He turned back to reach for Brooke, but was met by her foot to his nose. Brooke jumped out and pulled me out, Nick falling out right behind us.

"Watch it, creep," she growled.

"Yeah, leave our cousin alone, you illiterate whack job," Nick hissed.

"Hey, you mean little brats," the driving guy started, "you can't talk to my brother like that. We'll have you for breakfast for that."

"Yeah," the other one agreed through his hands, "us and our brothers. You little half-bloods can't treat monsters like that."

"Oh crap," Brooke muttered. The two men slowly started to change. Their muscles bulged even more and they grew up to at least eight feet. Their teeth went sharp and their faces turned from ugly to brutally terrifying.

"Laistrygonians," Alex choked. "This is what we get for messing with Travis and Connor."

"Oh don't tell me you guys believe in that karma crap," I said.

"No, but we do believe in Nemesis." The monster that drove roared and picked up the taxi, hurling it at us.

"Move!" Brooke screamed, dragging me forward before collapsing us to the ground. The car flew over our heads and slammed through the wall behind us. I heard people scream as lights and water pipes burst and the taxi crumbled. Glancing up, I saw the giants howling with joy and beating their chests with their fists like wild animals. Nick materialized from thin air behind the two. Alex seemed to step right out from the wall and join him. "Don't give them away," Brooke whispered. Nick pulled out his pen and Alex started toying with something on his finger, then grabbed Nick's wrist and pulled him back to the shadows. I was about to scream at them for leaving us hanging when I saw four more of the giants step into the alley.

"Well, they weren't lying when they said they had brothers," I grumbled.

"Awesome, six on four," Brooke muttered. Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet.

"Oh, did the little girl want to fight?" one of the monsters laughed, sending the others roaring.

"No," Brooke started after they'd calmed down. "I just wanted to uh, apologize. Yeah, I shouldn't have kicked your brother here or yelled at you. You guys actually seem pretty awesome, with all of those muscles and terrifying faces. I'll bet you send demigods running to their mamas."

"Actually, we eat them," one of the giants smiled. "We like to slow roast them over Greek fire, usually on a spear. We like the screams."

"Oh, well, I bet it's fun to listen to," Brooke gulped. "Look, if you don't mind, my friend and I are just gonna leave. It's been great talking, but we really should be going. You know, got a quest to do, prophecy to finish, lives to save, the normal half-blood stuff. So," she pulled me off the ground, "we're just gonna leave."

"Not so fast, fresh meat," the one she kicked growled. "You're our breakfast, and we don't feel like going on a chase."

"I thought you'd say that." Before I could blink, Brooke had me on the ground again and had thrown two of the giants against a dumpster via water.

"You little-!" The giant never finished. Five skeletons burst out of the ground and had the monster gone in seconds. Another wave shoved one more through the newly created hole in the wall.

"Argh!" the last monster started howling. "You little demons! How dare you destroy my brothers!" The monster charged at Brooke and me. It knocked Brooke to the side before she could react, and chucked a hunk of brick at me. I moved to the side, feeling the brick catch my shoulder. "Die, half-blood!" He raised another block over me. Acting on impulse, I pushed my hand up toward the monster and shouted something in Greek. The monster froze mid-throw. He started looking around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. I could feel my control slipping away. Focusing as much as I could, I tapped the sword on my bracelet. Barely catching it, I swung out at the monster and rolled. Dust powdered me and the brick landed and shattered next to my face, spraying me with chips.

"Awesome, Krys!" I heard one of the boys yell. Coughing and wiping monster dust of my face, I stood up. Alex ran up to me and shoved a bottle of nectar into my hands.

"That was so cool, Krys!" he exclaimed. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah, barely," I said between breaths. Taking a swig of the nectar and feeling the scratches on my face close up, I handed the bottle back. "Where're Brooke and Nick?" Glancing around, I saw Nick pulling Brooke up from a pile of bricks with a bottle in his hand.

"Well, Krys," Brooke called wearily, "welcome to half-blood life in the mortal world."

**Well, there's another. I definitely had enough time for this one, what with driving up to the north part of where I live and blowing a tire and getting stuck on the side of the road for over two hours. Yeah, that was fun. Anyway, hope you enjoy and thanks to Roo 4life for the clarification in something last chapter. Anyway, R&R people. Oh, here are the translations for the Greek I used. And no, it's not ancient Greek. Sorry, but I can't find a translator that good. Anyway, these came off Google, so forgive me if they are wrong.**

**Imítheos: demigod**

**Tromero: Terrible (good name for a hell hound if you ask me)**

**Tromeró, tous stamatísoume: Terrible, stop them (very original command, huh?)**

**Nekrós, epíthesi: Dead, attack**

**Távroi , bar tis pórta: Bulls, bar the door**

**Kolchída távroi: Colchis bulls**

**Neró, makriá: Water, away**


	10. Alex's Fish Problem

**Chapter 10: Alex's Fish Problem**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (except for my OCs and ideas. Those are all mine, people.)**

After that little stunt with the giants (and after looking back at Brooke's driving adventure), we all agreed that taxis were no longer a suitable form of transport for us. So, thanks to that idea, we had to walk who knows how many miles to some lousy, filthy bus station with idiots for workers. Seriously, I probably could've walked to California before they managed to get our tickets on a bus that wasn't in Milwaukee or Phoenix. And don't even get me started on the food there. I think the boys were even ready to hurl something with so many colors that even Iris would've been jealous. After waiting for a freaking hour and a half, we finally got a ride out to some tiny town on the New York-New Jersey border. At least those guys weren't brain-dead. Within a half hour, we were on a train and heading west. Even better, we didn't run into a single monster.

"So," Brooke asked, "you got any questions yet?"

Rolling over and looking down at her from my bunk, I asked, "Do you read my mind or something?"

"You just seem kind of curious about things so far, that's all," she smiled.

"Well," I jumped down from my bed, "I actually do. First off, how did you guys get us on a train to cross the entire country and manage to rent two rooms on this thing?" Somehow, Brooke had just walked up to the ticket desk and bought us four tickets and got us two separate compartments on the train with absolute privacy and all of the accommodations in a five star hotel. And it seemed like we still had money to burn.

"Oh that was simple," Nick said, waltzing in to our room with Alex.

"You know," Brooke smirked, "I got us two of these things so you could have your _own_ room. Why are you invading ours?"

"Because we felt like it," Alex answered.

"That and we don't feel like missing any information," Nick said. "Besides, I've got some questions too."

"Same," Alex nodded.

"Okay, well why don't you finish answering Krys's question, mister know-it-all," Brooke joked.

"Alright," Nick smirked back at her. "Well Krys, we got these rooms and tickets because we know what we're doing."

"Could you go into a little more detail please?" I asked sarcastically.

Snickering, he kept explaining. "First off, we've got a lot more money than you probably think. We don't have an endless supply, but it's a pretty good amount still."

"Yeah, all three of us get like ten bucks a week," Alex added. "Our parents call it allowance, but we know what they really want us using it for. It's meant for things like this, or getting supplies that mortals won't have. Basically it's for when we get into demigod trouble."

"Plus, our parents and Chiron totally hooked us up before we left," Brooke put in. "They gave us like six hundred bucks. It was crazy. I don't even know what we're gonna do with all that money."

"Okay, but you guys weren't even challenged at the ticket and rental desks when you didn't have parents," I started.

"Oh that was easy, too," Nick said. "At the ticket desk, Brooke used the Mist on the mortal."

"Yeah, demigods can basically manipulate the Mist, bend it to their will sometimes," Brooke said, answering my question before I could ask. "It's not easy though. It takes a while to learn. That's why I could only knock fifty off each ticket. I just started learning a few months ago."

"Okay," I said slowly, "but what about renting the rooms? How'd you manage that? I mean, you got these things way too cheap and the guy at the desk acted like he was completely okay with minors traveling across the country on their own."

"We got lucky on that one," Alex said. "The guy just happened to be another demigod. Even better, he recognized these two," he pointed at the Brooke and Nick.

"Did you know him?"

"No, but most people recognize us," Nick said. "The mix of looks we have isn't too common in the demigod world, given that Athena and Poseidon don't really get along and neither do their children. A lot of people recognize Alex too, because he looks a lot like is dad. The guy must've guessed we were on a quest and cut us some slack. Now for my question." He turned to face Brooke. "You said Lauren told you guys yesterday that about fifty half-bloods were still at the camp, but the Stolls told us that only about forty were still alive."

"Okay, what's your question?" Brooke asked.

"What else did Lauren tell you guys?"

"Yeah," Alex piped up. "We need to know what all you know. It's only fair, plus we need to know what we're up against."

"Okay, she said that the whole way to the camp, everything was fine," Brooke started. "She told us that they went through Big Lagoon. They didn't start having trouble until about a mile outside of camp. It sounded like it was patrol after patrol finding them. The monsters took them prisoner. When they got in, she guessed that about a few hundred monsters were there."

"That matches what the Stolls said," Nick muttered.

"Well, she said some of the others helped them get out, but she thinks they're all dead now. I guess the monsters caught up when they were escaping. Anyway, they stole cars, snuck onto busses, jumped on trains, basically did anything to get across the country. They had part of the army following them. Jordan died in Ohio, and she was chased all the way to camp," Brooke finished.

"So her info matches pretty well with what we were told," Alex said.

"Yeah, kind of like the early half of this whole mess," Nick agreed.

"Pretty much," Brooke answered. "Now let's put these stories together. There are only about forty more demigods at the camp versus two hundred monsters. There aren't any Big Three kids to do anything. It'll be dangerous heading in through Big Lagoon now, or any town, so we'll probably have stick to the woods if we even want a chance of getting in."

"Well what happens if we do get in?" Alex asked.

"First we have to figure out _how_ to get in," Nick said.

"Um, could I ask a few more questions first?" I put in. The three all started looking around at each other, waiting for someone to come up with an answer. After about a minute of staring and thinking, the boys resigned to looking to Brooke. After another minute, Brooke finally nodded to me. "Okay, could you guys tell me more about the servant? I mean, if there was anything that Chiron missed about it."

"You pretty much heard it all," Brooke muttered. "It serves the titans and kills for them. It has killed eleven half-bloods, a satyr, and a hunter."

"But Chiron said that the gods had a reasonable idea for its purpose. What is that?"

"Not many people outside of Olympus know that, Krys," Nick said nervously. "It's not something really brought up."

"Why not bring it up now?" Brooke said, looking at her brother. "She deserves to know what it is, what she's going to be dealing with. Especially considering where it came from and who it serves."

"What, do you think she's got some kind of connection to it?"

"Maybe, and if she doesn't, then she still needs to know what it's for."

"Wait," I broke in, "do you guys know what it's for?"

"Sadly," Brooke answered, turning her eyes to the floor. "The gods think that it might be some sort of… I don't know. I guess you could call it a gateway or something. They think its purpose is to re-raise the titans from destruction."

"What?" I asked. "But that's impossible. I mean, they were imprisoned for thousands of years before the last war. They couldn't possibly rise this fast because of some monster."

"You'd be surprised. Besides, in this world, this idea isn't totally farfetched. What the gods think it does is it takes, like, a piece of the soul or essence of whoever it kills. The servant is linked directly to Kronos, so whatever the monster takes in goes straight to the titan lord. All the power that the creature was taking has been making the titans stronger, giving them enough strength to rise from Tartarus without the help of demigods and other monsters. The gods think that after the list is complete, the titans will be able to rise again without any struggle."

"The list?"

"Yeah. See, about a month after the monster escaped into the world, Rachel apparently let out a prophecy."

"Well," Alex interrupted, "it wasn't really a prophecy. It was more like a warning, or like guidelines."

"Yeah, guidelines I guess," Brooke nodded. "Basically, we were told the order that the monster had to kill in. And it was pretty blunt about it, too. In total, it has to kill fifteen times before the titans can rise."

"How many more times does it have to kill?" I ventured.

"Two more times," Nick murmured. "It needs an Aphrodite child next. That's why they were moved from California to New York. Our camp is better established, has better security, a stronger training program. It all comes from being around longer. That and California was obviously being targeted, in case you hadn't figured that out."

"How do you guys know this stuff? I thought you said the gods didn't talk about it much."

"You remember when you were told that somebody had seen the monster and survived?" Brooke started, resting her chin in her hands. "Well that girl was me. I saw it when I was walking a friend home. After that, the gods decided to let me in on what it was and all of their ideas. I told these two a few days after that."

"That was with Kasey, wasn't it?" Brooke's head snapped back at me. "You saw the monster when you took Kasey home. She was Athena, right? It…it attacked her, didn't it?"

"How do you know that?" Nick asked.

"How do you know _her_?" Brooke whispered.

"Like I said, I have a lot of dreams. Now tell me more about this list."

"Fine, the list tells us who will die and in what order."

"It tells you exactly who's going to get killed? Well then why don't you just keep those guys under constant watch in the camps?"

"Because it doesn't say exactly who dies, just who they're affiliated with," Alex explained. "We can't imprison a bunch of demigods for their entire lives. Besides, if we did that, then it would just go after any unaware half-bloods in the mortal world."

"Look," Brooke started, "there's not much we can do about the list or the monster. Let's focus on what we're out here for. How are we going to get into the camp?"

"Do we even have enough info to get in yet?" Nick asked.

"Probably not. So, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want you two to keep in contact with Connor and Travis. They're obviously getting info from somewhere. I honestly don't care where it's coming from, I just want it. We need all the help we can get. Now, do any of you have an idea about this job?"

"Well," Nick said, "we're all powerful, but there's still no way we can take on all of those monsters. We're gonna have to get help."

"And how do you suggest we get help? Nobody with a sane mind wants to get anywhere near the camp, let alone go in it."

"Simple, we don't ask for outside help. When we get in, we need to find a way to release the other half-bloods and get them weapons. After that, we fight the army and take back the camp."

"Easier said than done," Alex muttered.

"Well I don't see you tossing around any ideas, bonehead," Nick shot back.

"Guys, let's not start this here, okay," Brooke sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Why don't you go order some food or something and we'll pick this up later."

"Fine by me," Alex said, slipping back out the door with Nick.

"Finally," Brooke muttered, standing up and pacing the room. "Now do you mind telling me how you knew about Kasey? And I want a better explanation than you saying you have dreams."

"Alright," I said. It took me about five minutes to tell her the whole dream I'd had a few days ago. "See? I really don't know much. I just know that you and this Kasey girl were in the mortal world and that whatever happened, she ended up dead."

"Yeah, she took the place of the Athenian death. But that had to have been at least three months ago. I don't know why you would've had a dream about it."

"Hey, you know, there's kind of a random little question I've wanted to ask you. Those necklaces that I've seen everybody wearing, what are they for?"

"Each bead represents the most important thing to happen that year. They're given out at the end of summer. However many you have says how long you've been at the camp. This one," she pointed at a bead with a mountain covered in clouds, "was my first. It represented the first mix-bloods to ever attend the camp."

"Why is it a mountain?"

"It's the symbol of the mix-bloods. See, each cabin has a symbol for their god, like the owl, the trident, a boar, that kind of thing. Since the mix-bloods hold relation to more than one god, the symbol couldn't be anything that favored one god over the others. So its symbol became Mt. Olympus itself, since all gods and goddesses somehow have a tie back to the mountain. This was my second year." She held up another carved into an endless maze. "It stands for the Labyrinth. Back when my parents were fourteen, the maze's creator sacrificed himself in hopes of destroying it. For a while, everybody thought it was gone. But over the years, the maze had been growing stronger, and its creator was losing more control. I guess it grew strong enough that remnants of the maze survived the creator's death. Since then, it'd been rebuilding itself uncontrollably across the U.S. A few demigods found an entrance into it by accident when they were wandering through the woods. Actually, the entrance is close to where that scorpion was yesterday. And this one," she showed me a bead with a bow and a sword crossed, "was last year. Now that was one crazy summer."

"What happened?" Just as Brooke opened her mouth, a lady walked in with a cart full of food.

"I'll tell you another time," Brooke grinned before digging into the food.

After a half hour of scarfing down cheeseburgers, fries, ice cream, and a bunch of other stuff I probably shouldn't have been eating, I was ready to just drop like a rock. Unfortunately, Brooke had other plans.

"Come on Krys, balance yourself," she told me as I attempted to keep from sliding off the train. She'd decided that my fighting skills still needed work (which I really couldn't have argued). Her idea of training, though, was to stick me on the roof of the train and have a duel.

"Hey," I said through gritted teeth, "remind me why we're practicing on the roof of a train going at least fifty."

"Because you seriously need help on fighting, no offense. And just to let you know, the train's going more like seventy, not fifty."

"Oh, well that's just great. So I can either keep my balance in training or go splat when I fall off and hit a tree?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Sword out, defensive stance," she ordered, flicking her pen into a sword. Huffing, I tapped the sword charm, barely catching the sword as it shot out of the bracelet. "Well, you're getting better at catching that."

"Thanks."

"Turning," she said, looking past me.

"What?" Then the train tilted as it rounded a bend, throwing off my balance. Slipping, I hit the roof and rolled to the edge. Brooke jumped forward a second later, grabbing my sword before it went over and pulling me back up, dropping her own sword off the train in the process.

"It's a good thing that sword is magic," she muttered, staring at it as the train roared away. "Here," she handed my sword back. "And that is exactly why you need to work on balance. Now try to fight me."

"Are you crazy? Either you'll skewer me with your dagger, drown me, or I'll fall off the train and crack my head open. Sorry, but I do not plan on dying today."

"Oh would you quit being a baby and-"

"Hey Brooke, someone wants to see ya," Nick called, climbing onto the roof with Alex.

"Ugh," she groaned. "We're on a quest. Who could possibly be visiting us? Besides, I'm kind of busy here."

"Well, maybe you'd like for me to give you your mail after you get yourself killed by monsters," a man said, climbing up after the boys.

"Lord Hermes," Brooke gasped, bowing to the god.

"Nice to see you, too. Now do you want your mail or not?"

"Uh, yeah I guess. Who's it from?"

"My sons. Would you like to explain why you're getting messages from them?"

"They're kind of helping us. Not sure if you knew, but they're getting info from somewhere about California. I decided we could use the help. Didn't I ask you guys to keep in contact with them though?" she asked the boys.

"Yeah, and we got hold of them," Alex answered, "but they didn't tell us anything. They said they would send you the info, that it'd be easier to figure things out that way. We have absolutely no idea what that means, so don't ask."

"Um, okay. Can I have that please?" she asked Hermes.

"Yeah, and while you're at it, can you explain to your brother and cousin why I can't give them things meant for you?" he smiled and tossed her a box.

"Guys, you know mail delivered by Hermes can only go to the receiver. Quit asking for mail from him if it's not for you."

"We know, but we could save him a lot of time if we just took the messages to the people," Nick said.

"Yeah, right after you snoop through everything."

"Oh, shut up Brooke."

"Well," Hermes interrupted, "I need to be going before Zeus thinks I'm helping out with a quest. Be careful on this, a lot of people are counting on you and we don't need you guys dying. That and a lot of people like you, so I don't think they'd enjoy it if you guys just died. And you," he looked straight at me, "watch your back. Just because the council voted for your life doesn't mean you're without enemies, especially on Olympus." He turned away and started walking down the train.

"Are you?" I called out to him.

"Excuse me?" he said, half turning.

"You heard me. Are you one of them?"

"Krys shut it!" Nick hissed quietly.

"No, I think I want to hear this," Hermes said coolly, walking back towards me.

"You said that I have enemies, especially on Olympus. My question was if you are one of them or not."

"What does it matter to you, Lore?"

"It doesn't hurt to know one's enemies, right? So are you one of my enemies, or are you a friend?"

"I haven't decided how I feel about you yet," he dropped his voice so only I could hear him. "I can't say that I'm happy you're here, but I certainly don't hate you. I know you have power, but I don't see how you're a threat to us. At the same time, you don't seem entirely sure on where your loyalties lie at this point. I will admit that when I first saw you, my feelings toward your father clouded what I thought about you."

"What did my so called father do to you?"

"That's none of your business, now is it? Like I said, I'm not sure how I feel about you now. I wouldn't say that I am your enemy, but don't even think of making the mistake that I am any friend of yours, child. If it means anything to you though, I will say that I voted for your life."

"Why? If my father did something to you, couldn't I be capable of doing the same thing?"

"Oh, I doubt that you will ever be capable of doing even half of the damage that Kronos did. As to why I voted for you, I thought that you deserved a chance. Now I need to be going. Don't forget what I said, that you have enemies in this world. Brooke, can I talk to you one more time?" he called, turning away and walking up to Brooke like he'd never said a single word to me. He started whispering something to her while she kept glancing at me and getting slightly suspicious and confused looks on her face. Nodding to each other, Hermes stepped back and waved his hand. Our backpacks instantly appeared at our feet and the box Brooke was holding had been wrapped tight in what looked like a mix of saran wrap and duct tape. "You guys are going to need those soon."

"Why?" the boys echoed each other.

"Can't say," Hermes smiled. "That'd be interfering if I told you what was going to happen. Have a nice trip guys, and I hope you don't mind diving much. And if anybody asks, I was never here, got it?" Then he started to glow.

"Krys close your eyes," Brooke ordered, snapping her own shut and turning away from the god. Following her, I turned and shut my eyes. Turning back, Hermes was gone and the four of us we're left on the train's roof.

"What was that about?" Nick asked, swinging his backpack on.

"Who knows, gods are strange sometimes," Brooke answered.

"Yeah they are," Alex agreed. "They tell you something really short and confusing, and when you ask for an explanation or something, they say they can't tell you squat. It doesn't make sense if you ask me."

"Yeah, but nobody asked you, remember?" Brooke grinned, throwing her pack on and reaching into her pocket. "'Bout time it came back."

"Wait, what did Hermes mean when he said he hopes we don't mind diving?" I asked.

"Who knows? Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll happen soon. He said we'd need the bags soon."

"Is there even anything to dive into around here?"

"Yeah," Alex smiled sarcastically, "we call it dirt."

"There's water nearby," Nick said, staring off ahead of the train.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Just look around. The ground looks darker, and a little spongy. There's a lot more grass and trees around here, too, compared to the last couple of miles anyway. That means there's more water for them to live off of. That, and there's a sopping wet moose right there," Nick explained, pointing at a moose walking near the tracks.

"Well, aren't you a watchful little half-blood," something hissed. Whipping around, I saw a monster flying above the train. It looked like most of the monsters I'd seen so far: a crazy science experiment gone drastically wrong. This one looked like some supped-up chicken cross-bred with something that you could barely call human. It had a fat body topped off with an old, wrinkled face with razor sharp teeth. Even better, about five more were flying up behind it.

"Harpies, great," Brooke muttered, flicking her sword out.

"Don't even bother," the harpy cackled. "There are more of us to come, Jackson. Not to mention that a horde of hellhounds awaits you at the next station."

"Hey chicken lady," Alex called, "why are you telling us your plan and everything? That's like one of the biggest no-no's in the evil rule book."

"Because you have nowhere to go," she smiled menacingly. "We don't even need to waste our time here on you, although I think a minor attack would certainly be fun." The other harpies were now by her side and shrieking in agreement.

"In your dreams, demon," Brooke sneered. "There are only six of you. We could take you easily. And who says we're getting off at the next station?"

"Who says the hounds would wait for you to get off? Besides, we have flight on our side. All you have is the tiny space of your little roof, which seems even smaller with all four of you on. Face it half-bloods, you're trapped."

"Uh, Brooke, what now?" I whispered.

"Um, let me think," she muttered, looking from the harpies to the train to the ground and everywhere else.

"Brooke, bridge," Nick called, pointing past us. Brooke half-turned to look and the harpy darted for her. Without thinking, I tapped my bracelet, bringing out Nekron and flinging it at the monster. It caught one of her wings, throwing her off balance and sending her spiraling toward the ground, where she exploded to dust under the train's wheels.

"Yeah, nice shot!" Alex shouted, scooping up my discus before it fell off the train.

"Ugh, you pathetic, worthless demigod!" another screeched. "We'll tear you to pieces for that!" The harpies threw themselves forward at us, but I already had my hands up.

"Pagoma!" I shouted instinctively, and the harpies slowed down so much that it looked like they were flying through invisible Jell-O.

"What is this!" one of them screamed.

"It's the reason that you never cross her, witch!" Nick shouted.

"Keep focusing, I've got a plan," Brooke whispered, sliding my backpack over my arms and tapping my bracelet, bringing my discus back to me.

"Brooke, you can start that plan of yours anytime now," I groaned through the strain of my power.

"I know, just hold on. Nick, Alex, get over here." I could just barely see the boys circling slowly around the frozen harpies.

"Dang, you've got one tight hold around them," Nick told me.

"Thanks, now can we move along?" I growled.

"Yeah, almost there," Brooke answered. "Alright, Nick, when I say, grab Alex and get off. Make sure you clear the bridge and don't get any closer than twenty feet before you wrap, got it? I'll take care of Krys."

"Wait, do you mean we're jumping?" Alex interrupted.

"No, we're just gonna take off flying," Nick replied sarcastically.

"Idiots, focus here," Brooke said. "Get ready." One second, two, three. "Almost there." Another second passed. I was about to turn and yell at them to get a move on when Brooke shouted at the boys to go. Their feet pounded against the roof, then nothing for a split second followed by one of the boys shouting. Brooke grabbed my arm and hurled her sword at the harpies. Pulling me along, she bolted to the roof's edge and jumped before I could say anything, pulling me over the side with her. We were free-falling off the train to a small lake over a hundred feet down.

"We're gonna die!" I shrieked, and then started screaming my head off so loud that they probably would've heard me at camp if it hadn't got lost in the wind whipping past us.

"Take a breath!" I barely heard Brooke scream. Water shot up at least forty feet from the lake and wrapped around us, pulling us down into the lake. For a few seconds, everything was quiet and calm and all I could see was water, then I was up again, coughing and spitting up water with Alex while the others just floated around us.

"Okay," Alex choked, "you guys really need to work on landing when you jump off a bridge."

"Yeah, that really hurt," I coughed.

"Sorry, at least we got out of that though, right?" Nick smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, now we're in the middle of nowhere with no ride and no idea as to where we are," Alex shot back. "And I think I've got a fish in my pants."

"Nice to know," Brooke said slowly, staring at him like he was a freak. "I'll be back in a second." Then she dove under. After about ten minutes, she finally came back up with another girl. "Guys, this is Connie and she's one of the naiads here. Um, Connie, could you tell us where we are?"

"Of course," she replied in smooth voice. "You are in the Conneaut Lake."

"And where is that at?" Alex asked.

"In the state of Pennsylvania, near the border of Ohio."

"Great," Nick snapped, throwing his hands up. "We spent all that money to get to Pennsylvania. Well that's just great. Now we're in the middle of a lake with all of our supplies soaked through and we'll probably have monsters tailing us before sunrise."

"Oh chill out," Brooke sighed. "We'll be fine. Um, Connie, how far are we from land?"

"Oh, not even a quarter-mile, child," she smiled.

"Thanks, and which way is it?" Connie pointed off toward a line of trees. After another round of thanks, we swam off for the shoreline, crawling up onto a rocky beach about twenty minutes later.

"Man, that was long," I groaned ringing the water from my shirt.

"I thought it felt pretty good," Brooke shrugged.

"Says the girl related to the god of water," Alex grumbled, shaking his leg.

"What are you doing?" Nick smirked.

"Trying to get it out," Alex growled, hopping around until a fish fell out of his pant leg.

"Wow, you really did have a fish in your pants," Brooke said, staring at the fish flopping across the rocks. "Stick it back in the lake and let's go. We need to cover as much ground as possible before we lose the sunlight." Grumbling about stupid fish, Alex scooped it up and sat it back in the water. He stood up to walk away when the fish popped straight up and whacked him across the face with its tail, sending the three of us into a fit of laughter. Growling, Alex stormed out of the water and shoved past us.

"Dude, wait up," Nick called between laughs, stumbling across the beach.

"Come on," Brooke giggled at me, running after the boys.

We only managed a few miles before Brooke finally decided that the sun was gone and that we needed to get some sleep. Volunteering herself for the first shift of watching, Brooke crawled up a tree while the rest of us attempted to get comfortable and fall asleep on the damp ground. After an hour or so of freaking about monster attacks, rolling around to find a dry spot, and getting poked in the butt by pine needles, I finally managed to fall asleep. And now we cue the dreams.

_I see then that you still do not know. _My vision came in. I was back in that attic with the same girl staring at me.

_You again? Who are you?_

_I hope someone that you can trust, Krystol Lore. I was once the Oracle of Delphi. I was Rachel's predecessor. I don't know why, but the Fates have allowed me to speak with you._

_Yeah, well your little talks aren't very helpful. You keep going on about how we're going to fail, but you don't tell me why. You know, you're acting like the others said the gods act: you tell me something short and confusing, but you won't explain. How am I supposed to know what's going on if you won't talk to me? How am I supposed to keep us from failing?_

_I'm afraid you can't. There will be no stopping this, only the warnings and preparations that may be offered. I will tell you this though, child, if you wish to know what will cause your failure, then you need simply to ask of the prophecy Brooke Jackson received. Listen to what you are told though, you have already been misled about the prophecy, and you cannot afford to not know the truth. _

_Wait, did Brooke lie to us? Or did Rachel, like, give her the wrong prophecy or did we get the wrong idea about one of the lines? _

_I cannot say, child. Remember what I have told you now and what I told you in your last dream: you have been misled, but it was in hopes of protecting._

_What the Hades is that supposed-! _My dream cut out again as green mist coils wrapped around the Oracle, drawing her from me and waking me back up.

"Why does she keep doing that?" I grumbled, opening my eyes to a bright blue sky.

"Why does who do what?" one of the boys asked.

"Nothing," I muttered, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"Well," Brooke started, walking up to me with a bag of trail mix, "here's breakfast. I'd eat fast if I were you, who knows if any other monsters plan on coming after us. Alex, quit pelting pigeons with rocks."

"But it's fun," Alex said. "Besides, they're just rats with wings if you ask me." Two pigeons (who apparently didn't agree with him) flew right over him, leaving a few stains on his shirt as they flew off.

"Uh, ew," I said.

"Why do animals hate me?" he whined, looking pretty disgusted.

"Because you smell like death, duh," Nick smiled.

"Come on guys finish eating," Brooke urged.

"Hey, I'm not gonna stuff my mouth to the point of looking like a chipmunk just so we can leave a little sooner," Alex snapped.

"Same," Nick and I agreed.

"Why do you even want to leave so fast?" Alex asked.

"Because, I just don't want to get caught by monsters," she answered.

"Well, we can fight off any monsters that we meet, so just chill okay?" Nick told her. "And did you look at what the Stolls sent you yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Why are you so edgy?" Alex asked.

"I'm not edgy."

"Yes you are," we three chorused.

"Fine, I'm a little edgy. But who wouldn't be in this position? I mean, monster attacks, first quest, servant, the survival of an entire camp and its demigods on your shoulders, I think I have the right to be feeling a little nervous."

"Okay," Nick started, putting his chocolate bar down, "but this is the fourth year that you've been dealing with monsters, and you've known about the servant since you were ten, which is trying to find Aphrodite's kids right now. And you've wanted a quest for a while now, you just happened to get one where you have to save a camp. So the camp part is the only thing that should really be grinding on your nerves."

"See, even you admit that I should be nervous."

"Yeah, but not this nervous. What's going on sis?"

"Um, well, it's nothing really but, I uh…guys, I have to tell you something."

"Alright, what's up?" Alex asked.

"Well, about the prophecy…"

**Haha, you all have to wait again. So, sorry that it took forever to update, but I was on major writer's block, and whenever I tried writing, I kept getting distracted. I promise, I will try to update faster, but I don't have any guarantees as to when. I blame my imagination and wandering mind. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy and thanks for reading and to those who reviewed. R&R people. ****Oh, and I know that the chapter title isn't really relevant to the whole chapter, but I thought it was cute. Thanks to Roo4life for the name.**


	11. I Really Hate Monsters

**Chapter 11: I Really Hate Monsters  
****Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own PJO. Or any other published works. If I did, I would be working on my next world-wide novel, not entertaining (or attempting to entertain) people over the internet. Now, onto the crazy world called my imagination.**

"…I uh, I sort of-."

"Oh, spit it out already, would you?" Nick complained.

"Well, see, about the prophecy, I sort of, um…"

"You lied, didn't you?" I accused, rising to my feet. "You lied about the prophecy."

"Krys, what are you talking about?" Alex asked.

"The prophecy, we were lied to about it. I don't know how, but we were. And I've got the feeling that Brooke knows exactly what I'm talking about. Right, Brooke?"

"Krys, would you knock it off?" Nick glared. Then he turned to Brooke with a slightly nervous look. "You wouldn't lie about the prophecy, would you? I mean, you'd tell us the truth about something like this, wouldn't you?"

"Nick, I uh…" Brooke stammered along, running her hands through her hair. After a few moments, she turned and locked her eyes on me. "She's right guys. If you want to know the truth, I did lie. The prophecy, it's one of the lines."

"Wait a second, you're serious?" Alex asked in disbelief. She nodded.

"So, you _lied_ about this?" Nick growled, standing up and walking to Brooke. "How could you? You ask us on your quest and don't even tell us the truth? Why? What did you lie about? Did you give us the wrong idea? Or did you leave out some of the prophecy? Well, spit it out!"

"Nick Jackson, don't you dare talk to me like that!" Brooke shouted in his face.

"Why shouldn't I? Oh that's right, because your Miss High-and-Mighty, aren't you? You think that because you're older that you can push me around and I'll do whatever you want. You think that you can just cover up something and expect us to be perfectly fine and go along with whatever you want us to do. Well here's a news flash, sis, I'm done with it! So you can just cut the act and quit with the orders, or I swear, I'll take you out so hard that you'll wish you were at the bottom of Tartarus taking orders from the titans!"

"Would you just shut up already?" Alex yelled. "Nick, you know yelling at her won't make a difference. And Brooke, why would you do this? I mean, I won't knock you into Tartarus, but the orders and lies are really getting annoying. You can't honestly expect us to follow you blindly into a massive battle. It might be your quest, but we still deserve the truth here. So, like Nick said, drop the commando act and just let us in on the truth. And until I know what's going on, I'm not moving. I don't care how many monsters show up, even if the servant comes in for a fight. So you can either start talking, or consider me dropped on this little job of yours."

"Have you guys even tried looking at why I might lie to you?" Brooke shouted. Her face was set in anger now, but one look at her eyes told me she was on the verge of tears. "Did you ever think that maybe I lied to you for your own good? Maybe I lied because I was trying to keep you all safe!" The oracle's words shot back into my mind: _She lies to protect. _

"How does lying protect any of us?" Nick hollered.

"Because if I hadn't lied, then none of this would have happened! If I'd told the truth, then none of us would be here. Chiron never would've let this quest happen if he knew. And even if he did, I don't even know if you all would've come. For all I know, you guys could've been too scared or something. And if you did come, you'd have one thought chasing you all the way to California. That one thought would've come up in somebody's mind at every turn of this quest. You have no idea how many times I thought it was coming true. And it's hardly been a day! If you guys knew, you'd be distracted constantly. You wouldn't be able to focus and somebody would end up hurt, or worse."

"Would you just tell us what you lied about already?"

"She lied about the end," I whispered, shocked that anything had come out of my mouth.

"What?" Alex asked.

"How do you know all this?" Brooke screamed as a single tear fell down her cheek.

"I've been dreaming way too much," was all I could say.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Alex started, rubbing his forehead, "you've been having dreams that told you Brooke lied about the prophecy."

"Basically," I muttered. "I was told that we were going to…" I dropped off, not sure if Brooke wanted them knowing or not. After all, it was her quest, so it was her choice.

"We're going to what?" Nick ventured, finally starting to calm down.

"I…I don't really think it's my place to-."

"We're going to fail, alright?" Brooke choked. "We're going to fail miserably, and probably in the worst way we can fail these days. I just didn't want anybody knowing why. Nobody would've helped me if they knew why we're going to fail."

"Hold on, we're going to _fail_?" Alex said, his eyes wide open and darting from me to Brooke.

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" she cried. "We are going to fail this quest. There's no doubt about it. That's what I was hiding, okay?"

"Okay, hold on Brooke," Nick said. "You said none of us would've come if we knew why we were going to fail. So why don't you tell us that, and maybe we can figure out a way to stop it."

"You can't," I mumbled. "I was told that there'd be no way of keeping us from failing. It's fate or something."

"Well I guess it's time to fight fate, huh?"

"That's suicide," Alex said. "You know you can't fight fate."

"True, but isn't fate, like, always changing or something like that?"

"What does it matter," Brooke broke in, wiping at her eyes. "No matter what we do, we're going to fail. And I guess it's time you guys knew why." She sat down and took a shaky breath. "I already said I lied about the prophecy, and I don't mean it as a little lie. I changed one of the lines, the one that said we'd fail."

"Please tell me that it wasn't the one about the battle and whoever wins is the one who one last time. Unless it said that we definitely win the fight," Alex said.

"She said she changed the line that said we'd fail, dimwit," I snapped. "So you better hope it's not that line, otherwise we're all definitely dead."

"No, it wasn't that one," Brooke said before Alex and I could start yelling. "It was the last line: Drive the servant from our shores."

"Really?" Nick protested. "That was pretty much the only line I liked in that whole thing. I was looking forward to killing that thing."

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and it'll say that we totally kick monster butt in California and get rid of the servant," Alex said hopefully.

"Dude, we're half-bloods, not angels. We don't have luck. What'd the line say, Brooke? The real line this time."

"Well, um, let's see, how'd it go again?" she stalled.

"Brooke, the real line," I warned, wanting to know it even though I knew it'd be bad.

"Fine, I'll just tell you the whole prophecy so we can re-discuss it anyway:

Wizened sea, travel west

Fight the creatures in our nest

Success to the victors as before

And fail as the servant strikes once more."

We sat in silence for a while, soaking in what she'd said. Finally, Alex broke the silence.

"So, the servant finds an Aphrodite?" he asked quietly.

"Sounds like it," Nick mumbled. The three of them just sat there without saying a word. They all had that glazed, out of focus look in their eyes. The boys looked like they were in utter disbelief and had lost all hope; Brooke looked absolutely devastated, like we'd already lost before we'd even really begun.

"So, we're just going to sit here then?" I asked. "We're just going to give up because of a little bad news?"

"Krys, this isn't just a little bad news," Nick sighed. "We just got told that we have no choice but to fail and the servant's going to get an Aphrodite kid. We may as well give up."

"Well it's no wonder Brooke didn't tell any of us the truth," I said. "You're all doing exactly as she said. You're letting it distract you all. So the prophecy said we're going to fail, so what. We still have to try. Besides, it only said that we'd fail because the servant makes another hit. The prophecy never said that we wouldn't be able to save the camp though. They still need us out there, and we still need to try."

"Krys, you're practically asking us to continue a suicide mission," Alex muttered.

"Well, it's not like the prophecy said anybody would die, so it's technically not suicide."

"Oh my gods Krys, does it really matter?" Nick added. "We can either give up and just turn back now, or we can go onto the camp and lose to the servant. Either way, we're going to fail, so what's the point in even trying?"

"I'll tell you what the point is. The point is there're a bunch of demigods that need our help. And that's what our job is, isn't it?"

"Guys, be quiet," Brooke whispered, finally joining the conversation.

"Why?" Alex asked. "We're in the middle of nowhere, there's nobody out here to overhear anything."

"Alex, shut it," she hissed, looking out at the forest.

"What's up sis?" Nick asked softly.

"I thought I heard something." We all sat up straight and started looking around, suddenly alert. I couldn't see anything, but I'd figured out by now that you couldn't always trust your eyes. Closing them, I decided to start using my other senses. For one, it was way too quiet. None of the birds were chirping and all the bugs had gone silent. Even the wind was holding itself back. Then I picked up on the smells. Through the normal forest scent was something musty and almost sour, but still familiar. It took me a second to realize that I'd smelt the same thing whenever the old Oracle got into my dreams, and only a second longer to figure out what it was.

"I smell snake," I muttered, opening my eyes.

"Thought that's what I smelled, too," Nick agreed.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm starting to smell more than snake," Alex said nervously.

"Brooke, what do we do?" Nick asked.

"Let's get out of here," she answered. She reached for her backpack at her feet, but pulled back screaming as an arrow slammed into it.

"You aren't going anywhere, demigodsss," someone hissed. It was a woman, at least that's what I thought until I looked down. Instead of legs, she had two scaly-green tails. Her face would've been beautiful if it weren't for the point that it was as green as her tails and had yellow eyes and vicious fangs.

"Dracaenae," Alex muttered. "That's exactly what we need right now."

"I love my job," the monster cackled, notching another arrow in its bow. It looked up to take aim, but had to dive to the side as Brooke's knife drove into the tree the snake had been in front of. While it was down, she brought out her sword and charged.

"You little pessst," it growled, picking itself up. "Jussst wait 'til-." Brooke swung her sword and yanked her dagger from the tree in one fluid motion, watching the monster turn into a mini sandstorm before it could finish.

"Maybe it's time for us to get out of here," Nick suggested.

"Really, what gave you that idea?" I asked sarcastically. "And where'd you learn to throw a knife like that?"

"Practice," Brooke shrugged. "It was kind of natural, with Mom being a dagger person and the fact that I prefer offense over defense."

"Yet you can't hit a giant sign with an arrow to save your life," Alex mocked. Rolling her eyes, Brooke moved for her bag. Then her eyes went wide and she shouted to duck, dropping to the ground and covering her head. Once again, I figured it was a good idea to listen and dropped like a rock. A second later, a massive boulder went flying through the clearing, taking out a couple trees in the process.

"I told you to aim lower!" a voice roared. Looking behind me, I saw a group of Laistrygonians stomping into our campsite.

"Really, again?" I muttered, scrambling to my feet and bringing out my discus.

"Hey, aren't you those kids from New York that beat our brothers?" one of the giants asked.

"Yeah, that's them!" another thundered, ripping one of the rock-broken trees from the ground. "For our brothers!" The monster sent the tree hurtling straight at me. The ADHD took over, and I was rolling under the missile, coming up on one knee and spinning Nekron at the giants. Before they could react, it had sliced through one's arm and taken another square in the chest.

"Oh yeah, take that, suckers!" I cheered, jumping up pulling my sword out.

"Krys, let's go!" one of the boys shouted. A small undead army sprouted up and started hacking at the giants. The message was pretty clear: leave them and let's get out. I turned and jumped the tree, scooped up my bag and followed the others through the woods.

"Where'd they come from?" Nick asked, trying to catch up to Brooke.

"I don't know, and I honestly don't care at the moment," she called back. "I just wanna get out of here."

"Don't we all, cuz," Alex smirked.

"That can't be all the monsters that were there," I panted. "There were, like, six, maybe less. And the way that snake-lady was talking, there had to have been more."

"Well, there wasn't, and I think we'll all gladly take that," Brooke said.

"Did anybody else hear that?" Nick broke in. Trying to listen, all I could hear were a bunch of birds.

"Nick, I don't think it matters if we're hearing birds, this is the forest after all," I told him.

"Yeah, but that's ton of squawking, and I started hearing it right after we left the clearing."

"Wait, you don't think it's…" Brooke started only to have her voice drowned out by the calls of a huge flock of birds that swooped down between the trees at us.

"Stymphalians!" Nick shouted, jumping behind a tree as the birds flew by. "Krys, move!" I rolled behind a pile of rocks, feeling the wind from the birds' wings right behind me.

"How do we beat them?" I shouted, tapping my discus charm to get it back. My only plan right now was to use the stupid things as target practice.

"We need some serious noise," I heard Brooke whisper in my ear, making me flip out before I realized that she had her hat on. Then the barking started up, ripping through the forest air and mixing with the birds' squalls overhead.

"Great, hellhounds," I mumbled as Brooke cursed under her breath. "Now we've got two packs of nasty mess-ups coming our way." The screeches of the birds grew louder, catching my attention. I looked up to see about a dozen winged devils dive-bombing us.

"Move!" Brooke cried. Not in the mood to be impaled by a bunch of feathers, I leaped up, smacked a bird that had gotten too close with my sword, and sprinted to a cluster of trees. Sliding in between the trunks, I caught sight of about half the assault birds picking themselves up at the base of the rocks where I'd just been. The other half were now ant sized sand dunes on the forest floor.

"Anybody got any ideas?" I called out as Alex skidded to a stop next to me with a few feathers sticking out of his hair.

"None on my part," he said, trying to catch his breath before calling, "How 'bout the Jackson geniuses? You guys got any smart ideas?"

"There's too many of them," Nick shouted from somewhere as the birds swooped back up into a massive cloud just above the trees. "We can't win a fight like this without some sort of bad sound."

"Man, where's Chiron's music when you actually want it?" I heard Brooke spat.

"Well, the hounds are coming," I shouted, watching as the birds slowly circled lower and lower. "If we wait here, then we'll be sitting ducks for ground attacks and aerial assault."

"Great, you guys are turning her into a militarist," Alex yelled.

"Good, at least she's thinking," Brooke said next to us, once again freaking me out.

"Will you please stop that?" I complained.

"Stop what?" Nick said invisibly next to Alex, making his cousin squeak and jump about a foot in the air straight into a tree branch.

"Ow, you two seriously need to stop that," he growled, rubbing his head.

"Whatever," they both sighed.

"So, anybody got a plan?" Brooke asked.

"Are you serious?" I said through clenched teeth. "You're supposed to be the smart one here, no offense boys. Can't you think of something?"

"Well, these guys hate loud noises, especially bad ones," Nick started.

"Nick, we've already made it clear that we don't have Chiron's music with us," Alex said.

"True, but is there any other- watch out!" The birds were on the move again, dropping straight towards us. I felt Brooke grab my sleeve and yank me from the trees. Trying to keep from tripping, I ran as fast as I could with her as she pulled us into a ditch.

"Brooke, I don't think we've got any kind of noise that'll get rid of these things," I said.

"Agreed," she muttered, taking her hat off. "What other way do you get rid of annoying birds?"

"We could always have Alex pelt them with rocks," I suggested.

"Not helping." The birds were circling back around, looking for their targets. It was only a matter of time before they found us. The howling and barking from the dogs closing in didn't really help either. Then I got an idea.

"Hey, Brooke, is it possible to make monsters try to kill each other instead of us?"

"I don't know, probably. Why, you thinking something?"

"I think so. Okay, so here's my idea…"

I wasn't so sure about this plan anymore. The more I really thought about it, the more I couldn't believe that the others actually agreed to this. It seemed like there was no room for error. One slip up could get any of us killed. _Oh well_ I thought. _Too late to turn back now._ I could already feel the air around me getting drier as Brooke pulled the moisture out of it. I could see the shadows on the ground growing longer and darker and feel a chill around me as Alex started his part. It was Nick and I who I thought would need the miracles to survive this one, though. Shaking my head, I turned my eyes to the tree line, looking for his sign. There it was, a small water spout shooting into the sky. Taking a breath, I stepped out from the protection of the rock pile and into the open. I let out a loud whistle and caught the attention of the birds.

"Yeah, that's right, bird-brains, I'm talking to you," I shouted. I know, I know, not the best name considering they really were birds, but I was short on insults at the moment. "Why don't you get your tail feathers down here, I'm kind of hungry. How does poached Stymphalians sound?" I doubted that I needed to add the last bit, but it definitely got their attention. Squawking and screeching, the birds circled around and dove at me. Taking a breath and closing my eyes, I held up my hands and imagined the birds slowing down. Nothing happened, there wasn't any pain. Opening my eyes, I realized that I was still in one piece. The Stymphalians were suspended in air, their beady black eyes drilling into me as they flapped at turtle speed. I couldn't believe it, it was actually working! Then I heard crashing through the woods behind the swarm and Nick burst into view, running fast enough to win a race against any horse at those old derbies. He was halfway between me and the tree line when the first hound came flying through the trees. About twenty more dashed in behind it, baring their teeth and snarling. Nick ducked under the birds as the dogs leapt at him, apparently not noticing the flock nearly frozen in midair. Slamming into me, Nick pulled me to the ground. The birds instantly returned to normal speed, just in time to be trampled by the horde of hounds. The monsters were still gaining their senses when Nick and I took off. I only heard one snarl before the wave crashed through the forest and swept away the beasts. Seconds later, Brooke was at our side as we ran towards an army of bone and shadow. Slipping through the ranks and finding Alex at the back.

"Nice work," Brooke said between breaths. "Let's go." We took off into the woods again with the dead army under orders to fight any survivors of Brooke's mini tsunami.

"Not a bad plan, Krys," Nick smiled. "Are you sure you're not related to Athena at all?"

"Thanks," I gasped.

"Yeah, well let's keep the ideas coming guys," Brooke muttered. "I don't think we're done yet."

"Same, but can we tone it down on the power use?" Alex panted. Now that he'd mentioned it, he did look a little pale. Brooke wasn't so bad, but she was definitely running slower, even I was keeping up with her. I knew they were right though. I could feel my own energy draining. If we were going to need power again, it would all be on Nick, and I knew he couldn't hold up forever.

Ten minutes later, we were all gasping and gulping in air next to a creek. Brooke had finally decided to stop after listening to Alex and I whining about passing out from oxygen loss.

"And it's oxygen deprivation, not oxygen loss," she'd scowled.

"Does it matter?" Alex glared. "And isn't it the same thing?"

Now she was lying face down in the water, muttering something about rabid dogs, wacked out birds, and stupid snakes.

"So, I'd say the monsters found us," Nick said.

"No duh, Sherlock, what gave you that idea?" Brooke gurgled into the stream.

"Where do you think they came from?" I asked, already getting an idea or two.

"Tartarus, duh," Alex smirked, laying down and throwing his arms behind his head.

"I meant, what were they doing here? An army of monsters wouldn't just randomly roam through the Pennsylvania woods."

"Actually, I think we might be in Ohio by now," Nick said.

"Whatever. The point is, I doubt an army would just be in the middle of nowhere without a reason."

"Well, maybe they were part of that army that went after Lauren and Jordan," Brooke suggested, sitting up on her knees in the water. "I mean, you gotta admit, it'd make sense. Or maybe word leaked that there was a quest and a bunch of monsters decided they wanted a fight and just happened to all come together."

"Brooke, when was the last time monsters "just happened" to do anything that involved an actual plan?" Nick asked.

"Okay, you got a point there, bro. Then that means that they probably are part of the chasing army. That would mean that there are plenty more monsters in the area."

"In that case, why are we still here?"

"Because they wanted to stop," she grumbled, pointing at Alex and I.

"No," Alex protested. "I wanted to breathe again."

"Yeah, well breathing's for the living," Brooke shot back. "And if you feel like living long enough to breathe again, then we need to keep moving."

"No, I'd rather fight another round of monsters than go another foot. Sorry, but my legs are on fire right now. So just let me stay here for, like, a half hour or something."

"Wimp," Brooke muttered.

"What did you say!"

"Nothing."

"Okay, instead of yelling at each other while we're taking our break, let's actually do something productive for once," I suggested. "Let's try and figure out how to get in the camp."

"Good luck with that," Nick scoffed. "Judging by what we know, we'll be lucky to get within five miles before we're found."

"Ugh, I really hate monsters." I sat thinking for a minute, trying to come up with anything. "Okay, so what Nick said is probably true, but what if there was some, like, back way or something into the camp, an entrance that the monsters don't know about, or a place they wouldn't think we'd come in through."

"That'd be nice," Brooke started, "but none of us know the camp well enough to find something like that."

"Well…"

"Hey," Alex spoke up, "what about that box the Stolls sent? They're getting info from somewhere, so maybe they sent something to give us an advantage or something."

"Yeah, Brooke, you have that box still right?" Nick asked, suddenly alert and interested.

"Yeah, I had to cram it in my bag so I'm not sure what condition it's in, but it's still there," she said, struggling to unzip her bag. Finally getting the package out, she sliced through the tape and saran wrap with her dagger and started pulling out papers. "Well, I guess they don't hate you guys anymore. They sent us two more Greek fire pots, apparently free."

"Nice," Alex said as a slightly evil grin spreading across his face and Nick's eyes lit up with joy.

"They aren't going to be used unless I say so, got it?" Brooke snapped. Grumbling the boys nodded.

"What's this?" I pulled what looked like a picture from the pile next to Brooke.

"Lemme see," Brooke said with curiosity. "It looks like a… Oh my gods, it's a map of the camp. This is perfect."

"What's that?" Nick asked, pointing to a question mark marked on the edge of the map's woods.

"Not sure. Maybe there's something that they don't really know about there," Brooke shrugged, turning back to the other papers.

Putting down the map, I started rifling through other papers until I came to one that was labeled: **Defenses and Weaknesses**. It went on about how the camp had borders almost as strong as New York's. They had a few catapults hidden in tree patches throughout the entire camp. There was a small army of about fifty automatons and the nymphs had promised to defend the camp as it was their home. It kept going on for a little longer about certain weapons and terrain advantages and a bunch of other things I only half understood. In all, it seemed like a fairly well defended camp. I still couldn't see how the monsters had managed to get past it all, especially since the borders were made specifically to keep them out. Shaking my head, I kept reading. Apparently, the camp still had quite a few weak points. It wasn't that far from San Francisco, which was apparently titan territory. The roads into the camp were rugged and hard to get through, so help from anybody or thing was hard to come by, and supplies sometimes had trouble getting in. The camp backed up to a huge cliff, which cut off escape routes and would let an enemy fire from above. Reading through the whole thing, it looked like the camp was pretty balanced between weaknesses and strengths, but it didn't seem like there was anything that really could've turned a battle against the half-bloods, especially since they knew their territory. Then something caught my eye. I read it over again four or five times just to make sure that I wasn't messing up with the Greek or that it was printed wrong. But it was still there, plain as day, staring me right in the face.

"Hey, Brooke, here's a list of some of the kids still in the camp," Nick said, snapping me back to reality. "They might not have any Big Three kids, but these guys would definitely be a help to us. There's like seven Apollo, three or four Hephaestus, a couple of Demeter…" He kept going on, naming gods and the small numbers that were still left.

"Good, we're definitely gonna need as much skill as we can get," Brooke said. "Anybody else got anything?"

"This says there's a burial ground a few miles south of the camp," Alex said, smiling devilishly. "Apparently, there's a couple hundred people buried there: Indians, settlers, Spanish, a few Russians, some English and French. They've got a pretty good mix of the dead there. They could be useful to me when we get caught up in that big battle that's gonna happen."

"Great, and with them that close, it cuts down a little on the amount of energy you'll have to use. What about you, Krys? You got anything yet?"

"Um, well, this says there's possibly a labyrinth entrance in the camp."

"What?" they all gasped, dropping papers and scrambling over to me.

"Yeah, it says it right here, under their weaknesses: Possible labyrinth entrance."

"Let me look at that," Brooke said in shock, reaching for the paper. "Yeah, it's right here: Possible labyrinth entrance, likely to be deep in the woods, near the camp borders to the south. Since when did these guys get an entrance to that thing?"

"Who knows," Nick shrugged. "But if they really do have one, then it explains how the monsters got past the borders."

"Guys," Alex broke in, "this could the perfect way into the camp. What monster would think of half-bloods using the labyrinth, we never use that thing. And right after they used it, too!"

"So now we just need a plan," Brooke smiled. "Alright, let's see what other info we've-." Another roar cut her off, ringing throughout the forest.

"Oh crap," Nick muttered.

"Time to move," Brooke said quickly. She stuffed half the papers in her bag, shoved the rest into mine, and tossed the boys each a fire pot. "Don't even think of using them."

"Aye, aye, Captain," Alex mock saluted her. Rolling her eyes and huffing, Brooke took off through the trees.

"Come on, keep up!" she shouted back at us. Scooping up their bags, the boys tore through the woods behind her. I tapped my bracelet, bringing out the discus and smiling. I still had it then. Hearing the roars and barks getting closer, I picked up my pack and raced after the others, hoping I could find them before something found me.

"Guys, where are you?" I shouted after a few minutes. "Guys, wait up! Brooke? Nick, Alex? Anybody?" I ran for another ten minutes, screaming and yelling at the top of my lungs. I finally just stopped. Breathing heavily, I looked around for any signs of my friends, but came up with nothing.

"Great," I said out loud. "This is just great. Of all the places, of all the times I could get lost, it had to be now. And, along with being in the middle of freaking _nowhere_, I've got monsters chasing me, no help, and hardly any training. Gods, the fates must love torturing me." I kicked a tree, and in return, had a pinecone chucked at my face. "And nature still hates me."

"Nature isn't the only thing after you, half-blood," somebody sneered. I wheeled around to see a blond teenage girl in a frilly skirt and lacy top that was cut way too low in my opinion.

"Uh, who are you and why exactly are you in the middle of the woods?"

"Oh, I guess you don't know too much about me and my kind given that you are so new. Krystol Lore, isn't it?"

"How do you know who I am? And you still haven't answered my questions."

"Well, as to whom I am, my name is Kelli. I know who you are simply because word spreads, as do orders." As she spoke, she moved slowly, closing the distance between us, and smiled in an underestimate-me-and-I'll-rip-you-apart way. "As to why I'm in the middle of nowhere, standing here in front of you, I'm simply following orders."

"And your orders are…?"

"I'm supposed to help end your short, miserable life before you become an issue for the titans" she smiled bitterly. "Sorry, Kronos's orders, and I can't deny the Titan lord." With that, she leapt at me, changing in mid-air from a girl to a pale, donkey-and-bronze-legged thing with red eyes, flaming hair, and vicious fangs. I rolled out of the way just before she slashed the ground where I'd been.

"What the Hades are you?" I spit out shakily, readying the disc still in my hands.

"I'm what is called an empousa. Formed by dark magic, my kind are the bases of those stupid vampire myths. We generally prefer the blood of men, but I suppose you'll have to do." She took another flying tackle at me. I managed to sidestep her and slam my discus into her skull, sending her headfirst into a tree.

"Argh, you little brat! It's time you learned a lesson from us monsters, and I think the best way to do that is to send you on a permanent visit to your brother in the Underworld. Kill the traitor!"

"Wait a second, how am I a traitor if- ah!" I ducked as a knife spun toward me, hearing it bury into the tree behind me. "What the Hades was that!"

"That was for our brothers!" a giant roared as it ran at me with a huge battle axe. I rolled away just as he brought the axe down, cleaving a rock in half and digging the weapon about a foot into the ground.

"You should probably work on your speed. And your aim," I smirked while it struggled to pull the blade out. I turned around to look for the empousa and found about fifteen extra monsters. "Oh crap." Howling, a hellhound jumped forward, claws extended and reaching for my face. Spinning away, I summoned my sword and swung, barely missing the creature. Before it had its balance, I'd chucked my discus at it, cutting through one of its legs and turning it to dust. Snarling, two more dogs raced through the trees at me. Instead of running away, I jumped up and grabbed a tree branch, swinging my feet into the face of one dog and pulling myself up into the tree.

"Coward!" a dracaenae shouted. "Come down and fight like a real hero!"

"Hm, so my choices are being a real hero by coming down and getting ripped apart, or being smart and hiding in a tree like a coward. Yeah, uh, I think I'm gonna go with choice B if you don't mind."

Another Laistrygonian bellowed in rage, picked up a boulder and chucked it at me. Screaming, I fell backwards out of the tree.

"Really? How many rocks are you idiots gonna chuck at me today?" The two hounds took the opening and barreled towards me. Letting my instincts take over again, I turned and managed to jump over one and land on the other. I tapped both charms, hoping my weapons would be back before I became kibble. The dog I was on threw itself upward, launching me off and whipping around toward me. It bunched its muscles and was about to jump when my sword nailed it from behind before disappearing into the bracelet, turning the dog into black sand. The other hound followed suit after a hit from my discus.

"So, the little half-blood has magical weapons," a monster I didn't know growled. Whatever it was, it looked like yet another bad experiment.

"And what are you?" I asked, stalling to think of my next move.

"I am a telekhine," it snarled. He looked like a crossover of a seal, a human, and one of those annoying lap dogs that never stop yapping at you.

"Hm, you know, you monsters really need to stop with the whole humanoid thing. I'm telling you, you guys just aren't coming out that well. Seriously, if you're gonna try that, then go to those guys who made Max and her bird crew. Now that was a good fusing, even though they totally jacked those kids' lives. Compared to them, you guys are a bunch of oversized freaks."

"We are not a bunch of stupid, mutated humans!" the empousa hissed, jumping at me with bared fangs. Sidestepping easily, I twisted, brought out Nekron, and spun it into a dracaenae, turning her into a hissing cloud of dust. Bringing out my sword, I slashed upward at a telekhine that had tried to attack. Two giants, one on each side, ran at me, roaring loud enough to wake the dead. Staring at the one closest to me, I held out my hand and muttered something, watching the monster slow to a crawl a few feet from me. Looking to the other one, I watched and waited as he closed the distance in seconds. Taking a breath, I waited 'til the last second before throwing myself to the side and watching the two giants collide with so much force that they disintegrated on their own. Six more snarling and snapping hellhounds moved in and started circling me.

"Man, looks like even monsters think dogs are their best friends," I muttered. Spinning around at a howl from a hound behind me, I brought up my sword, which went straight down the monster's throat.

"Um, that's extremely gross, but kind of awesome I guess," I shrugged as the beast slipped off my blade in clumps of sand and dirt clods.

"Argh, die half-blood!" I heard the giant shout. Finally having managed to pull out the axe, he thundered toward me. I dropped to the ground and simply rolled out of the way, watching the monster trample two dogs to nothing before he slipped and landed on his own blade.

"You guys really should stop using Laistrygonians. Honestly, they just aren't that smart," I told the empousa. She hissed at me, and then ordered the dogs to kill me.

"And they say I'm a coward for not fighting," I muttered under my breath. Apparently the dogs had managed to figure something out, because they all jumped at me as one. In the second or two before impact, I had enough time to register what they were doing. I might've been able to take down one of them at this point, maybe even two if I had a miracle coming, but I didn't stand a chance against three, especially coming from different sides. Then instinct hit me again. Before I could figure out what I was doing, I'd raised my hand in silence and watched the dogs come to a complete stop mid leap. Swinging my sword around over my head, the monsters fell back to the ground before turning to sand.

"Who's next?" I murmured, still feeling power coursing through my body as I stared down the vamp in front of me.

"Fire," she smirked at me. It took me a second too long to figure out what she was saying. An arrow flew from a tree and grazed my cheek. Another slammed at my feet and another flew past me, just inches from my face. Screaming, I ran for cover, tumbling down behind a pile of rocks. Hissing laughter echoed around me and through the trees.

"The little girl isss afraid. Hasss ssshe lossst all her courage?" a dracaenae cackled. _I'm dead_ I thought. There was no way out of this. There was an archer, maybe more, in the trees somewhere. How was I supposed to bring down an enemy I couldn't see? And that empousa? Forget it. I had no chance against her. I'd figured out that she was a good fighter. I'd just been lucky and fast enough to get around her. She'd out play me eventually though, and then she'd have me.

"Hey," a girl whispered next to me. I whipped around, half-expecting to see Brooke, or at least to have her there invisibly. But it wasn't her. It was a girl that looked about ten or eleven, and judging by the rest of her appearance, I was guessing she was a dryad.

"Look, if you've come out just to insult me or drop a branch on my head, can we do it another time? I'm kind of busy with monsters here," I told her.

"I'm not going to drop a branch on your head. Besides, I already chucked a pinecone at you today. Anyway, some of us dryads thought you could use a little help. I can't say any of us are really pleased about a titan half-blood roaming around, but we'll take you over the monsters."

"Great, nice to know that I'm a little better than the monsters around here."

"Look, you've got a dracaenae-shooting-at-you kind of problem, and we nymphs have a monsters-invading-and-tearing-up-our-woods kind of problem. So, here's our deal, we'll get that snake out of the trees for you if you kill it for us."

"That simple of a deal, huh?"

"It's what we can offer right now. Take it or leave it, princess."

"Fine, I'll kill it, if you get it to where I can see it."

"Good. Oh, and if you don't mind, could you help by getting rid of any other monsters you find around here? We really want them all out."

"Maybe, if you help us out a little along the way."

"Deal. We'll have that monster down for you in less than a minute." Then she started melting into a tree next to me.

"Wait, how do I kill it?" I asked, realizing that I didn't have my discus on me and was without a distance advantage.

"That's your problem, half-blood," I heard her whisper.

"Thanks for the help," I grumbled. I heard the branches and leaves all around me rustle and shake without any wind. Somebody squealed in surprise, and then a thump sounded just on the other side of the rocks. Peering over the rocks, I saw a snake-woman about ten feet away slowly pushing herself off the ground. She still had her bow and a quiver full of arrows. She was the only one down, which meant she was the only archer, which also meant she was a quick shot and I'd have no chance swinging a sword at her even from this short of a distance. I decided to do the only thing I could think of that could keep me away from her. I picked up my sword like a javelin, took a breath, and stood. The snake was waiting for me. I hurled my sword as she let go of the bowstring. I felt the arrow slide across my shoulder as the dracaenae let out a hideous wail and exploded into dust.

"You insolent, pathetic toad!" Kelli screamed at me. "You killed my monsters! I'll rip you apart for this!" The only thing I could think of was, _Dang, this chick has some serious anger issues._ I jumped over the rock pile and ran for my sword. The empousa jumped right in front of me, flashing her fangs and keeping me from my weapons. "Die traitor!" She swung her claws at my face. I fell back, barely keeping my balance. I had to get to one of my weapons. I would've tried tapping the charms to have them hit her on the way in, but I'd already pulled that trick. She'd be waiting for me to try it again. I knew I couldn't get around her; she was just too fast for that. So that meant that offense was my only chance to beat her, which really didn't sound like a very good chance. For some reason, I decided to do one of those kicks to the face that you always see in the movies. It didn't work to well. My first mistake was that I was too far back. The second was that I didn't put enough force into the kick. She caught my foot easily, smiled devilishly, then twisted her arms around, flipping me over and sending me flying into a tree.

"Really, child? Now why would you try that? Those things only work in movies, unless of course you're a very well trained person, which you clearly aren't," she mocked, walking towards me. Groaning in pain, I managed to get to my feet and face her, just in time to for her to pull the same trick on me and send me to the ground again.

"Unlike me," she finished. My hands were at my mouth. I felt like somebody had just hit me with a brick. I could already tell that I'd have one heck of a bruise and some talking trouble for a while, that is if I survived this whole thing, which really didn't seem too likely at this point. "So, you're supposed to be the great daughter of Lord Kronos? Ha, I've seen ants with more skills than you. How such a powerful being could sire such a weak human like you is beyond my comprehension. Oh, I think I'll enjoy killing you. Not only will I be eliminating a problem, I'll also be getting rid of a disgrace to the monsters and titans. Then I can go after your little friends. Yes, I'll enjoy that very much. I've been meaning to get back at Annabeth for killing me for a while now. Taking out her precious little babies ought to do the job nicely. Especially taking down little Brooky; she's so much like her mother, it'll be just like taking down Annabeth."

"Leave them alone," I managed to gasp through the pain and swelling in my jaw, trying to push myself up.

"You don't order me around, sweetie," she whispered, crouching down next to me. "You shouldn't have tried to mess with me, Krystol Lore. You should have feared me from the start." Figuring that her gloating would distract her a little, I took a chance and swung my fist at her. I managed to make contact with her eye and send her reeling backwards. Throwing myself forward, I tackled her into a tree, then threw her into another.

"You little demon," she gasped in shock, stumbling around trees and rocks. Before she recovered, I sent another kick at her, nailing her in the chest and throwing her into a boulder. "Argh, you…I swear I'll…you'll pay…" she sputtered, not finishing a single threat. Gathering herself, she glared at me viciously, and darted forward. I held out my hand, and she froze.

"Let's clear some things up, Kelli," I said, still trying to make my mouth work as I walked toward her. I could see her expression changing. She wasn't confident anymore, she was worried. No, she was actually afraid of me now. I could see it in her glowing eyes. "Yes, I am the daughter of Kronos." _Whether I like it or not_ I thought. "I may be just a human, but I have skills and powers you have never challenged. If I am to ever be a disgrace to your kind, then it will be because I refuse to fight for you. And you won't be touching my friends, got it?" I didn't know where any of this was coming from, it just was. And all of this power that was building up in me… I could see why Kelli was scared. I was starting to scare myself. "And for your information, it's _you_ who should have been afraid of me from the start. You shouldn't have messed with me, and I'll be glad to show you exactly why." With that, I flicked my hand. Kelli went flying back, rolling over rocks and branches before slamming into boulder and breaking it in half. She disintegrated in front of me. "Have a nice trip to Tartarus, demon."

Tapping my charms, I turned to leave, then stumbled over air. I was out of energy. I could feel it slipping away along with my power. Everything was going crazy. The world seemed to be turning around, backwards, upside down, and doubling all at the same time. I felt sick, like I was burning hot and freezing cold at the same time. I staggered through the forest, zigzagging like a delusional drunkard. I managed to make it into a clearing that wasn't too far. I remembered feeling like I was burning away, withering into nothing. I could smell something, almost like something had just started rotting. I heard shouts, but I couldn't tell who they were, what they were saying, or even where they were. They just slipped away as I fell to my knees. Then I saw black, and felt myself fall into it. Then nothing.

**Well, there you go guys. Finally finished another one for you. And now it's really going to take me forever to update because I have to go back to school for the next nine months. Yippee! (If anyone couldn't pick up on it that was sarcasm.) Well, hope you guys enjoy it and I hope it has enough action for you. I realized I kind of was lacking in that area after talking to a friend. Anyway, once again, enjoy it, and thanks to all the people who manage to keep reading this and to those who review (which really is not a lot of you on the second part.) You know what, just because I'm sick of asking for them and getting no results, I am now demanding reviews (at least for this chapter.) Either I get five more reviews, or you people get no more updates. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I just want some feedback and would actually like to know what people think of this thing, that's all. Okay, so I've droned on for **_**way**_** too long, so see ya. **


	12. Attack of the Pinecone

**I do not own PJO (saying that is starting to get really annoying…) Anyway, I didn't get my five reviews that I wanted, but I got sick of waiting on you people, so I'll just update anyway, but that means you guys owe me at least two reviews for this one. And thanks to Poiseninja, Bosque95, and Roo4life for taking the time to review for me. Since I can't think of anything else that I'd like to say at the moment, on to the story!**

**Chapter 12: Attack of the Pinecone**

"Ow," was the first thing out of my mouth. I felt like I'd been tied to the back of a chariot and dragged across a field of rocks and cacti while the life was slowly sucked out of me. My mouth tasted like a spider had crawled in, made a web, then gave birth. All of which came after the feeling that someone had been using my face as target practice. Every muscle in my body ached and screamed at me to pass out again. My head was spinning and I felt ready to hurl. So to make a long story short, I felt like absolute crap. I opened my eyes to a bright blue sky with puffy clouds. Birds were chirping and the wind was blowing through tall pine trees.

"Not quite how I imagined the Underworld," I muttered. Someone giggled off to the side. Glancing over, I saw Brooke sitting against a tree with a smile across her face.

"Nice to see you joined us, sleeping beauty," she laughed, climbing to her feet and walking toward me. "How are you feeling?"

"Horrible isn't even the tip of the iceberg," I mumbled, trying to sit up.

"Well, better horrible than dead, right?"

"Sure. Where am I?"

"Still in the woods," she shrugged, crouching next to me. "The boys and I found you passed out where you are. You were really pale and barely breathing. The nymphs said you kind of went crazy with your powers on a couple of monsters. Do you remember anything?"

"Not really, just a bunch of ugly mutants screaming at me and hurling really sharp weapons at my face."

"In that case, I'd say you remember pretty much everything worth remembering."

"Great." Head pounding, I looked up at her. "Where were you guys? I couldn't find you."

"Oh, um, see, we sort of ran off for about a mile before anyone noticed you were missing. We tried backtracking, but of course you were gone by then. It took us about twenty minutes to find you after that."

"Oh, well as long as you didn't desert me in the middle of nowhere," I muttered sarcastically. "Where are dumb and dumber at?" I'd finally noticed that neither of the boys were in the clearing.

"Off wandering, just keeping an eye out for monsters and getting some more info from the nymphs," Brooke said, waving her hand.

"Oh. Hey, what's that smell? It smells almost as bad as a dumpster."

"Oh, that…" Brooke dropped her head, looking off at the edge of the woods. Following her eyes, I saw a burnt out spot by the tree line.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say we found Jordan and leave it at that," her voice turning bitter and cracking. Before I could say anything else, Nick and Alex walked out of the trees.

"Oh, are you still alive?" Nick joked, smiling at me.

"Shut up, before I chuck a rock at you," I grinned.

"Ha, I'm too fast for you to hit me, Lore," he bragged, sitting down next to us with his cousin.

"So, did you figure out anything else about that picture?" Alex asked Brooke.

"What picture?" I broke in.

"Oh, um, well when we uh…found Jordan, he…he had a picture in his hand," he explained, looking at the ground.

"Yeah, here," Brooke said, handing me a wallet-sized picture of a girl. She had light-brown, straight hair that went down to her shoulders and eyes as blue as the sky. Her face was sharp, but pretty, with the beginnings of laugh lines around her mouth. The girl looked even younger than the boys.

"Her name's Abby," Brooke explained, "Abby Murry. If we're right, then she's Jordan's little sister. She's only nine, but she knows about the gods and half-bloods and the rest of it, but she's just a mortal. She lives in Big Lagoon. And she might be clear-sighted."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Look on the back." Flipping it over, everything Brooke had said was scrawled in rushed writing on the back of the photo. "That's Jordan's handwriting, even if it is sloppy and hurried."

"Yeah, sloppy and hurried…" Nick repeated. "Kind of like how it'd be if someone was trying to get out a message…"

"What, you think Jordan wanted to tell all of Camp Half-Blood that his baby sister lives in what is probably a monster-infested town?" Alex scoffed.

"I don't know, why don't you ask? After all, who's the one who talks to the dead?" Nick glared.

"And who's the one who talks to fish all day?" Alex shot back.

"Well who's the one-?"

"Will you both just shut up already?" Brooke said. Half smiling, the boys looked down. "We can worry about what Jordan wanted with this kid later. Let's just figure out how to get out of this place and to the camp."

"We can help you there," someone said. Before I could blink, the other three were on their feet, weapons out, and spinning around, nearly taking off the heads of a couple of dryads in the process.

"Hey, be careful with those things," one of them scowled, scrambling back out of range of the blades. I recognized her as the one who'd talked to me earlier.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her, slowly standing while trying not to bring my breakfast back from my stomach.

"For one, these woods are my home, so where else am I going to be? And two, I made a fair deal with you. You got rid of those monsters for us, so we'll help you. You guys need to get to some form of civilization, right? Well, my sisters and I could get you out of here and to a mortal town."

"Would you?" Brooke asked, skepticism dancing in her eyes.

"Of course, a deal's a deal, right?" the nymph shrugged "And we have a really simple way of getting out of the forest."

"Um, alright, I guess if you guys can drop us in a town," Brooke said slowly.

"Oh we can," the dryad smiled, grabbing mine and Brooke's hands as her friend grabbed the boys. "Hold on tight, half-bloods." She started dragging us towards the trees. For a second, I thought she was going to run us into them, then everything went black again.

I landed face first on the ground, getting a nice mouthful of dirt and grass. A few thuds announced that my friends had gotten the same deal as me.

"What the Hades was that?" I asked, spitting out the gunk in my mouth.

"It's how the nymphs get around, I think," Brooke choked out, coughing and spitting out mud next to me. "It's like transporting from tree to tree. I can't really explain it, but I've known a few others that got the same treatment."

"And it helped them, too," the girl snapped at us as she stepped from the trees. "I can't stay too long. We're way too far from my home. Just head over that hill and you'll hit Cleveland. I'm sure you can find a bus or train station or something. Oh, and thanks for the monster help guys." Smiling, the nymph turned and darted back into the woods.

"Well, wasn't she friendly," I said, raising my eyebrows. A pinecone sailed out of the trees and nailed me in the forehead as girlish laughter sounded from the woods. Growling, I stormed up the hill, just wanting to get back to a city.

We spent about an hour trudging around the streets and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes before we managed to find a train station. Handing over most of our still damp money, we caught a train heading to some little California town called Arcata.

"Wow, I can't believe we actually got lucky enough to get a ride almost all the way there," Alex said, practically bouncing in his seat. Oh, did I forget to mention that while waiting for the train, Brooke had caved and given us money to get food from any of the fast food shops? Well, apparently Alex had used his and ended up chugging four energy drinks. Honestly, I was in complete shock at the fact that the kid hadn't had a heart attack yet or exploded.

"Yeah, now just wait for that luck to shrivel up and blow away in the wind," Brooke sighed, staring out the window.

After a few hours, the boys had fallen asleep along with a few of the five or six other passengers in our car. The rest were reading or listening to IPods.

"So," Brooke started, turning to me, "You remember on the other train, when Hermes said something to me, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think it's about time we talked about that. He was actually delivering a message for Hestia. Apparently, she said that I need to listen to my quest members really well, especially you, mostly for your dreams."

"My dreams?" I asked in shock. How would they help?

"Yeah, Hestia said that they'll help us. I guess you're getting more from them than you really bargained for." I simply nodded. "Would you mind telling me about them? I mean, who knows, they just might give us an edge."

"An edge? My dreams? Please, all they do is freak me out and make for a horrible night's sleep," I muttered.

"That's what half-blood dreams are for, Krys," Brooke smiled sadly. "Could you tell me please?" Pursing my lips and thinking for a minute, I started in on the earliest one since camp.

Brooke sat on the seat, staring at nothing and just thinking. Finally, she sighed and looked back up.

"Well, from what I can pick out of the dreams that involve _him_," she started, avoiding saying Kronos's name, "it sounds like he wanted you to join up with him. He probably wanted you for your power and as a spy. When he couldn't get you, he decided to get rid of you, and it doesn't surprise me. In the last war, the titans tried to eliminate anyone who was a threat to them."

"Apparently the gods did, too," I muttered, remembering the images of the gods wreaking havoc on demigods and the mortal world.

"Look, as much as I hate to, I have to agree with him. The gods aren't perfect, and they certainly aren't always that great." Thunder rumbled overhead, but Brooke didn't even seem to notice. "I can tell you this though: the gods might have done a lot of damage, but they've done nothing compared to the titans. Seriously, the titans make the gods look worthy of about a half-dozen Nobel Peace Prizes."

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse, based off of what I know." She went silent after that, lost in her own thoughts again.

"So," I started after a few minutes, "what else can you figure out?"

"Well, that kid Layne, if we could get to him, he could seriously help us. If he got Lauren and Jordan out with all those monsters around, he has to know the camp pretty well."

"But we have to get _in_ the camp before we can get to him."

"Yeah, I know."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Maybe, but not much, and everything I have is dangerous. I don't like it. One slip up, and we'd all be dead, no question about it." _Wow_ I thought. Dead without a question? And I thought my plan had been stupid and dangerous.

"Well, you are part Athena, I'm sure you can figure out something," I said, hoping I sounded reassuring.

"Yeah, I guess," she mumbled, curling up into a ball against the window. Within minutes, she was sleeping. Sighing, I stared out the window, wishing I could just disappear into the prairie grass around us like everything else did. I closed my eyes and shook my head. What was I thinking? I was stuck in this world, and there were only two ways out: death, which I didn't really want, or run away, and I couldn't do that to the others.

I opened my eyes and almost screamed. The train had somehow disappeared. In front of me was one of those small-town neighborhoods: nice, Victorian-style houses, green and flowery lawns. Some yards had bikes and little kid toys lying near the front door, only making the neighborhood look even cuter. The street was calm and peaceful. A bright blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds and a golden sun looked down on everything. A gentle breeze blew through the street and stirred the new leaves on the trees. Judging by the weather and plants, it was April. I couldn't figure out where I was, but I assumed I was near an ocean from the salty smell in the air.

I heard light thudding and turned to find a girl running so fast she looked like she was flying. I held up my hands to catch her and try to calm her down, but she just ran right through mean, and I don't mean that in some stupid metaphor. The kid literally ran right through me. I had enough time to almost go ballistic and figure out that it was another dream before my dream forced a move on me.

I was in someone's house. Pictures of a man and two kids covered the walls. Clay models of famous buildings lined shelves and the fireplace: the Parthenon, the Coliseum, the Statue of Liberty, and a bunch more. Notebooks full of writing and drawing pads were stacked by a couch and lying across the floor.

A second later, the door banged open behind me, then slammed closed a second later. I turned to find the girl leaning against the door and gasping for breath. After a few seconds, she sank to the ground, pulled her knees to her chest, and buried her face in her arms.

I wanted to comfort her, but it was only a dream. I thought about the dream with Layne for a second and how I'd managed a small contact with him, but I knew it wouldn't work. That had been happening right then, this was in the past.

_Abby, is that you?_ I heard a man call out. The girl's head snapped up. Her face was red and tear-streaked, her eyes were starting to redden from crying, but I still recognized her. It was the little girl from the picture Brooke had, Abby Murry.

_D-dad?_ she choked out. A tall man with dark blond hair came into the room. He took one look at her before wrapping his arms around the girl.

_What's wrong, baby?_ he asked gently.

_I-I saw the m-monsters, d-down by the s-s-school_ she cried. _One of those giants J-Jordan talked about. A-and something e-else. It was l-like a l-lion, but i-it had a sc-scorpion tail, a-and the face of a m-man_. She broke out into complete tears. She kept going on about something, probably more monsters, but I couldn't make anything out between her sobs. After a few minutes, the man picked up his daughter and carried her off somewhere. Then the scene changed.

I was back outside, still in the same neighborhood. Abby was sitting under an apple tree in her front yard, drawing something in one of the sketchpads I'd seen. A twig snapped and Abby's head flicked up at the sidewalk. A group of four or five girls dressed in jeans and green shirts were walking down the street with about twice as many dogs. I'm not sure what Abby saw, but the expression on her face said it was pretty terrifying. Scooping up her pencils and pad, she raced into her house, slamming the door behind her as the group walked on. I saw another three or four scenes with the same general theme.

The dream changed again, and at this point, I was almost begging for them to stop. I could guess from what I knew that Abby was seeing monsters, and that each mortified her more than the last. Now she was walking home from school. Instead of taking the roads like I'd seen her do, she turned into a dirt alley behind a block of houses, probably trying to hide from any other demons. I heard voices coming down from the other end of the alley. Abby did too. She froze on the spot and tensed, then relaxed after a few seconds. Her expression changed to curiosity as two figures made their way toward her, completely lost in their own conversation. Abby's face lit up a second later and she charged at the pair.

_Jordan! _she shrieked in delight. Before the two could react, Abby had tackled a boy to the ground in a hug. _I thought you were at the camp. Did you come back to see me? Oh, I missed you so much, Jordan._

_Abby, off_ the boy ordered, pushing the girl off him. He had the same dark blond hair as Abby's dad, along with those piercing gray eyes all Athenians had. _It's okay, Lauren, she's just my sister._ Looking at the other person, I saw Lauren holding out a sword and in a defensive crouch. On Jordan's word, she stood up and slid the sword into a scabbard. _No, Ab, I'm not here to see you, although it's nice to. I'm on a job right now. I have to go, okay? It's important._

_Does it have anything to do with all the monsters in town? _Abby asked with eyes as big as the sky around her.

_No, it's about our- wait, monsters?_

_Yeah, I've been seeing monsters for two weeks all over the place._

_But, why would monsters come to the town. It's not big, not important, it's useless._

_But they're here, Jordan. I swear on the-._

_Look kid,_ Lauren cut in,_ not to be rude or anything, but we're busy here. Why don't you and your imagination run on home? Your brother and I need to get going. Come on Jordan._ She turned away and walked off down the alley. Jordan followed her with his eyes. He looked like he half-wanted to stay with Abby, but wanted to keep following Lauren.

_Jordan-_ Abby started.

_I've got to go, Ab, okay? I've got a job to do, people to help. I can't waste any more time. I'll be back in a few days, we can talk then okay? If there really are any monsters around, just stay away from them and I'll help you out later. See ya later, Abby. _Jordan rolled to his feet, hugged his sister, and took off after Lauren.

_But…_ Abby trailed. Her eyes closed, then opened to show harsh, slightly green irises. _You will regret ignoring her, Jordan Murry._ Her voice rasped, hard and ancient-sounding. Abby closed and opened her eyes again. The green was gone, now replaced with shiny, quivering tears. Sniffling and wiping her eyes, Abby turned and ran down the alley.

The dream changed again. _Enough with the changes already. Can I wake up at some point in my life? _I thought.

Somehow, I knew it was a couple of days since Jordan and Abby had talked. Abby was lying on the couch, surrounded by a few stacks of books and drawings. She was sleeping, and by the looks of it, she was having some very interesting dreams. He face was scrunching up, like she was having nightmares or something. She was shifting around restlessly, even twitching a little. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright and started screaming.

_No!_ she wailed, tears free-falling like waterfalls from her eyes._ No, no! You can't take him! It's not fair!_ Abby's dad came running down the hall, shouting out questions at Abby. _He's gone! They killed him, Dad, they killed him! He's dead!_ It took me a second to think of what she crying about, but by then the dream changed again.

I was back in the Big House attic and staring at the old Oracle. She looked so sad and beaten down, as if what Abby had gone through was somehow her fault.

_Such a sad life that child has led so far_ she whispered. _Being given such a cursed gift, being forced to see all of those creatures, being capable of helping only to be tossed aside and forced to watch more horrors, it is a terrible way to live. _

_She knows Jordan's dead, doesn't she _I asked.

_She watched it happen. Why do you think she woke up screaming and crying?_

_Why did you show me all this?_

_Abigail is very important. She knows many things of her world and ours, more than any child should. You know she is clear-sighted, you saw that for yourself. I cannot say what, but the Fates have big plans, and an even greater future, for the girl. You need to find her, protect her, and bring her completely into our world. And listen to her, Krystol. Do what Jordan would not and take her seriously. Not doing so was his downfall. She may be young, but she is not to be ignored. You need to go now, child. Remember what Hestia wanted Brooke to know: your dreams are important. Be certain that Brooke knows of what you have seen tonight._ With that, the Oracle curled over into a small snake, took one look at me, and lunged forward.

My eyes snapped open. Nick was staring out the window in the seat across the aisle. Brooke and Alex were both gone.

"Where are we?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and looking out the window. The train was stopped in a small station.

"We're in some tiny town in Nebraska. I don't know where exactly," Nick answered. "The train stopped to let off other passengers, although I don't know who wants to get off at Prairieville, Middle-of-Nowhere. Brooke and Alex got off to grab some food. I hope they get McDonald's. I've been craving one of their burgers lately."

"I hope not. Have you ever seen Supersize Me?"

"No."

"Watch it. You'll never crave McDonald's in your life, or your afterlife."

"I've seen it, that's why we got Taco Bell instead," Brooke said, walking up the aisle with Alex in tow.

"Yay, we get to eat processed, reheated meat and month old vegetables," Nick mumbled sarcastically.

"And McDonald's is any different?" Brooke smiled, throwing a bag at her brother.

"Here, Krys," Alex said, tossing two smashed up tacos at me, "bon appetite."

We ate in silence for a few minutes, chewing soggy shells and squishy tomatoes. Still, compared to the last few days, it was the best thing I'd tasted all week. Watching the others eat, I tried to figure out how to tell Brooke about Abby. There was no doubt in my mind that she'd tell the boys everything at some point, but I wasn't sure if she'd want them knowing everything I'd seen about Abby. Then again, they were on this quest, they deserved to know, too.

"Um, guys, I need to tell you some stuff," I decided. "Brooke, you said you wanted to know about our dreams, 'because they could help us. Well, I had another one, well, more than one I guess, but I think you really need to hear these ones." I explained the dreams as quickly as I could, hoping that Brooke would be able to use them and that I wasn't just wasting her time.

"So…she actually watched her brother…" Nick trailed in disbelief.

"Yeah, as far as I know," I answered.

"Wow, that's just…that's brutal," Alex agreed.

"Well, let's figure out what we're supposed to do now," Brooke said, brushing off the fact that a nine-year-old girl had seen her brother die. I turned to scream at her, but held my tongue. Her face looked slightly stricken. Her eyes were shining with dammed up tears and she was looking at Nick. Picking up on why she was trying to move onto something else, I let it drop.

"Well, according to Krys's little Oracle buddy, we have to find this Abby girl," Nick said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I mumbled, receiving a glare from Nick.

"She's apparently important, but why?" Alex asked. "I mean, she's not a demigod, she's nine, she's afraid of the monsters, the only advantage she has is that she can see them."

"I don't know guys," Brooke admitted. "As if getting into the camp to save it wasn't hard enough, now we have to protect this kid. And how are we supposed to do that if we're off fighting monsters and she's in the mortal world?"

"Well, she can see through the Mist," Nick started, "and we were thinking of maybe using the Labyrinth."

"No, Nick," Brooke broke in. "I'm not going to endanger her life just to get in the camp."

"But you're perfectly fine with taking us three in and endangering our lives?"

"That's different, and you know it, Nick. You guys are trained, you have power, and you can protect yourselves. She can't. Besides, if we took her with us, what'll happen when that battle breaks out? She'll go ballistic, and we don't have any warriors to spare for watching her."

"Wait, wait, wait," I said. "What are you talking about? How does her seeing-through-the-Mist power have anything to do with the Labyrinth and getting in?"

"Okay, quick explanation," Alex started. "The Labyrinth is an ever-growing, ever-changing maze designed to trap and kill whoever's in it, that is, if it doesn't drive them insane first. It spans the entire country and supposedly stretches into Canada and Mexico a little, but that doesn't matter. Point is, it can take you anywhere in the country, but it's almost impossible to navigate."

"Let me guess, emphasis on the 'almost' part?" I asked.

"Exactly. For some reason, demigods can't get through it without getting lost, but clear-sighted mortals can, well to a certain point anyway. From what Rachel said, she saw this really faint glowing path on the ground when she went in with Percy and Annabeth when they were teenagers. She said it was hard to see, but definitely there, and she ended up getting them through it."

"Yes, after nearly dying who knows how many times," Brooke growled.

"That's always a risk, Brooke," Nick insisted. "She knew what she was risking, how dangerous it was, and she still came out alive and sane."

"She was also fourteen," Brooke shot back. "She may have understood the risks. She, Mom, and Dad may have been ready to take those risks. But there's a difference between a fourteen-year-old and a nine-year-old understanding things. Besides, I'm not ready to take that risk. We're not finding Abby, we aren't going to take her through the Labyrinth, and we are not going to drag her into this mess, got it?"

"No, Brooke," I finally spoke up, staring her straight in the face. "I was told to protect her. I was told that we _have_ to bring her into our world. I was told to listen to her and take her seriously. Do you want to know why Lauren and Jordan got caught up in the mess they did? It's because they didn't listen to her. She knew there were monsters. Abby knew something was going on, and she could've helped. Now, Jordan's dead, Lauren's probably scarred for life, and the camp is even worse. Do you want the same thing happening with us? The camp can't take another failed attempt, Brooke. They won't survive long enough. Besides, who's to say Abby can't take care of herself? She wanted to help them, Brooke. Let her help us."

"But-."

"Brooke, come on," Nick begged. "Whatever happened to taking a chance? Don't you remember what Mom always told us when she read history books for bedtime stories, whenever she got to the wars? She said that some of the stupidest, boldest, most hair-brained schemes and plans and risks-."

"Were some of the most successful and brilliant moves, sometimes even turning the tide of a battle," Brooke finished.

"Exactly, so why not take a chance?" he asked. Brooke sat staring out the window as the train rumbled through grasslands.

"Let me think about it," she said, getting up and walking to the back of the train car.

"Ugh, we don't have time to think about it," Alex whispered.

"We have a day and a half before we hit Arcata, if we don't run into anymore monsters. That's more than enough time for her to think," Nick promised.

Six hours later, I was staring out the window, watching the sun set behind the distant mountains and slowly nodding off. Nick was leaning against his window and staring into space with Alex half-asleep on his shoulder. Brooke came up and sat down next to me.

"We'll find her," she whispered, staring at the floor.

"You mean we can get Abby?" I asked hopefully. Nick perked up at the name, making Alex mumble in his sleep.

"Yes, we can find her and look after her," Brooke answered reluctantly. I opened my mouth to start letting out a thank you, but Brooke looked up and locked her eyes on mine. "That doesn't mean she's leading us through the Labyrinth or going anywhere near the camp. I haven't decided that yet." She got up and walked to the back of the train car, acting like she hadn't moved at all. I looked back at Nick. He had a thrilled and surprised look on his face.

"You actually got her to change her mind," he whispered in awe. "Do you have any idea how hard that is?"

"No, but I'm glad I did," I confided. _Now for stage two of my horrible idea _I thought. I hadn't told any of the others, but my ideas had been building since Brooke had me talk about the dreams. She's told me a few of her thoughts, and she was right. They were dangerous, but if they worked, we would actually have a chance at saving the camp. I hated putting my plan into motion without telling her about them, but I'd decided to use an old saying Mom had told me once. _Better to ask forgiveness than permission. _Besides, I still wasn't sure if she'd let me. But she couldn't stop me if I started it.

Glancing back at Brooke, I felt sorry. She'd spent weeks watching me and had taken me in as a friend. She'd risked a lot standing up for me and helping me on this quest. And I was about to waste all of it on something that would probably blow up in my face. Sighing, I forced the sorry away from my head. I couldn't back out, not when I felt so sure about this. Leaning on the window, I closed my eyes and fell asleep in minutes.

I don't know how, so don't ask me, but I managed to force my dreams to Tartarus.

_Father _I called, the word tasting sour and bitter in my mouth. It felt like I waited a century before anything happened.

_So, my little daughter, you wish to speak_ Kronos said mockingly. _I thought you had turned to the gods and their little servants. You certainly acted like it well enough: joining the Jackson girl on her quest, accepting the help of a god and that of the other demigods, destroying my monsters. _

_I know father, forgive me for what I have done, but it was necessary. If I hadn't joined the half-bloods, then I would have had no way of reaching California, of reaching you and your armies. And I had to destroy the monsters. Otherwise, the others would've wondered why I wasn't helping them. Besides, if I remember, most of those monsters really were trying to kill me. I figured that I'd be no use to you dead, so I killed them before they could kill me._

_Hm, I still remember you rejecting me in your dreams. And you also seemed to follow the demigods in not supporting me in your day life._

_I had to, my lord. The gods already wanted me killed, as you had said. Many of the demigods agreed with them, or at least wanted to throw me out to the world with no help. If I gave any signs of supporting you, they would've done so, and I would never have been able to get to you. I was forced to act in hatred of you to survive. You were right all along. I should have never doubted you._

_No, you shouldn't have. But you are young and naïve. You knew no better than to follow those around you. I am willing to forgive you, child. Join me, my daughter, and we will destroy those who lied and dared to bring harm to you._

_Thank you father. I'm not far from the camp now. I can join your armies there. We can finish the demigods that dared to challenge us there and move on to New York, if you wish it._

_Yes, it's time we destroyed them all anyhow. None of them are willing to save themselves and give us information. The army will know to expect you, and will bow before you._

_I'm sorry, what do you mean they "will bow before" me?_

_Oh, Krystol _he laughed, something that sounded like nails as sharp as swords running across a blackboard, times a hundred of course. _You should have known that I'd expect great things from you. My servant is not currently at the camp, and Kelli, the little empousa you met, was in charge before you killed her. I have now been forced to leave a sphinx to control the army, and she does not take orders well. She is too hungry for power, and certainly not suited to leading the army of the titans. As my daughter, I expect you to take control and lead our forces to success, until I am capable of returning. The army will be at your disposal. And of course, you will have full rights and obligations to the deaths of the remaining half-bloods. That should satisfy your hungers to eliminate the lying demigods until we can attack New York._

_Oh, o-of course, my lord. It is such an honor to be chosen to lead your mighty army. And I believe I may have a gift for such a great honor. I understand that the demigods that I'm with are the children of those who fought you._

_Yes, the Jackson and DiAngelo children. The children of some of my most hated enemies. What about them, girl?_

_In a show of gratitude to you, I would trick the demigods into our plans. They already trust me, so it would be too simple. I can lead them into the camp as friends, then capture them for you. It would be a crushing blow for the half-bloods to lose such powerful children, and even more so for their parents._ The cavern rumbled with the intensity of Kronos's laughter.

_Already, you think as a military leader. I have no doubt that you would be capable of such a feat. And it will indeed be an excellent repayment._

_My lord, if I may, that is not all I have for you. I have gained knowledge of a girl near the camp. She is only a mortal, just nine, but she can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters as they made their way to the camp. The others have decided to find her and protect her from the monsters. If possible, I would like to lead her to the camp as well. She would make a wonderful prisoner and lovely entertainment for the army. _

_A mortal. I would normally never allow any of my followers to waste time on such scum. But what you say is intriguing. The child knows of our army. And as she sees through the Mist, she could navigate the Labyrinth for us to the other camp. Yes, you may bring her as well. I see great promise in you, child. Now leave, set our plans in motion. It is time to crush the gods._

I woke up as the train clattered onto a bridge. We were traveling through a mountain range covered in pine trees. Gray clouds blotted out the sun and sent shadows across the cliffs.

"Nice day," I muttered.

"'Bout time you got up, sleepy head," one of the boys said.

"Here's your breakfast," Brooke said leaning over the seat in front of me and holding out a Styrofoam plate with two unappealing pancakes.

"That's it?" I asked skeptically.

"We're low on money right now, and I don't know how much we'll need in Cali," she admitted. "So yeah, that's it." Shrugging, I grabbed the plate and wolfed the pancakes down in five minutes.

"Thanks, it wasn't as small as I thought it'd be," I said, trying to smile. My stomach growled in protest. Brooke looked down in disappointment. Stupid stomach.

We traveled for a few more hours in silence. After that, Brooke and the boys tried coming up with ways of getting into the camp. I didn't toss around any ideas, at least not any sane or possible ones. I already had a plan, and something told me it would work. All I had to do was find a way to get the others to go along with it.

The rest of the day flew by as fast as the train, and before the sun had even half set we were in Arcata.

"Wow, not a single monster," Nick said in disbelief.

"Good, it'll be easier without those things to figure things out," Brooke told us, walking out of the station. _Yeah, the plan will be way easier without monsters _I thought.

"Why are you smiling?" Alex asked me. Realizing I was grinning, I pursed my lips to hide it.

"Oh, just glad we didn't have to fight again," I made up, even though it was kind of true. I looked up at the sky to act like I was trying to figure out how much time until the sun was gone (even though I already knew what time it was) to get his attention away from me. "Maybe we should find a place to stay. It'll be dark in a few hours."

"No," Brooke mumbled, looking at a poster map of California tacked to a wall in the station. "Big Lagoon's about twenty miles away and there's a few little towns between here and there. We use the hours we have to get as close to the town as possible. Night coverage could be useful too if we wanted to get even closer."

"But monsters are stronger at night, and that town is probably crawling in monsters now," I whined. I needed more time to figure out the tiny details. If I could stall at all…

"Then we'll stop five or ten miles from the town, but we have to cover some distance." Turning out of the station, Brooke managed to hail a taxi in minutes, and we were on the road again. After a half hour of winding through tall redwood forests, alongside coastal cliffs, and across small bridges, we ended up in some little town three or four miles from Big Lagoon. We visited the two mini hotels in the town, only to figure out that we had enough money for breakfast and ride in a crappy cab.

"Well, looks like we're alley sleeping guys," Brooke had told us. Now, we were curled up next to a dumpster, trying to sleep without inhaling toxic trash fumes. Still looking for some thinking time, I took the first watch, perching myself on a very lovely stack off crates that smelt like grease and fish. Of course, nothing happened. Kronos would see to it that I got the others to the camp. At some point, someone changed places with me and I knocked out into empty sleep.

Waking up the next morning, we had a fast breakfast of squished chocolate bars and slightly stale peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In no time at all, Brooke was shoving us out of the alley and into bright sunlight. Before I could even really blink, we were hiking alongside the road out of town. Forty-five grueling, horrible minutes of tripping, cursing, and having more pinecones chucked at me later, we came over a hill. Below us was a town a little bigger than the last, filled with perfect lawns and Victorian houses. It was like one of those postcard towns from Georgia or some other southern state.

"Big Lagoon," Nick said. "We ready for this?" Nodding to each other, we trudged down the hill.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," Brooke started. "We'll split into pairs, Nick and Alex, Krys and me. We search the town for an hour for this Abby girl, and if we don't find her, we meet back at that diner we just passed, got it?"

"Sounds good," Alex agreed.

"Alright, one hour guys," Brooke said to the boys as they turned away. "Come on, protector. Let's find your little charge."

I led Brooke through the streets, trying to remember them from my dream. We passed Abby's school and turned down the alley she'd Jordan and Lauren in.

"Krys, I just saw the boys," Brooke called. "I'm gonna go check on them. Can you handle yourself?"

"I'm not a lost cause, you know," I shot back. "I am fully capable of watching myself."

"Whatever." She left the alley and started calling to the boys. Huffing, I turned around to keep going and ran right into someone.

"Sorry," a girl muttered.

"Don't worry about it," I told her. I looked down to make sure she was okay, and there they were: straight brown hair, sky-blue eyes, and little laugh lines all on a pretty, young face.

"Abby," I breathed in shock.

**Ta-da, another chapter exists. So, I'm not going to apologize for taking about two months since I made a deal with you guys. I will apologize for the chapter though. Sorry it wasn't very actiony or suspenseful, but it was mostly just a filler to set up everything else. So, like I said at the beginning, thanks for those who took the time to review, and thanks to anyway who actually reads this. I'll try not to take too long to update, especially since I'm off school for the week, but I'm still busy here. So, if you guys can (or care to), please review. If not, I won't be happy, but I'll get over it. I promise things will definitely pick up in the next few chapters. Until then, enjoy and wait for another update. Peace out.**

**Oh, and if any of you actually bother to look at the chapter titles, I understand that the title hardly relates to the chapter, but my friend gave me the idea and I almost fell on the floor laughing at it. So, you can thank her for the chapter name. Thanks Roo!**


	13. My Charge is a Nut

**Chapter 13: My Charge is a Nut**

**Author's note: Okay, I will say sorry for taking so long on this chapter, but hey, what can I say, I had writer's block. And practice that lasted until about five every day. And homework. And projects. Let's just say I had a busy schedule and leave it at that. But, I'm out of sports until about February or March, so I should be able to update a little faster, emphasis on should by the way.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

"You're…you're Abby, Jordan's sister," I stuttered. "I can't believe it. I actually found you. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm probably freaking you out. I'm-."

"From New York City, sort of," Abby interrupted. "You've been travelling across the country with two boys and a girl from the camp out on Long Island. You guys have been fighting a bunch of monsters and doing a bunch of stupidly dangerous and awesome stuff. You're trying to help the other camp in the forest with whatever all those monsters are doing to them. You're a half-blood like your friends, but you're different. A lot of people don't trust you and a lot of them don't like you, probably because of your dad. I don't know who he is, but I'm guessing he isn't a popular guy. Right now, you're hiding stuff from those other kids, stuff that's important. I don't really know what you're doing, but you'll do what you want to. And part of your plan will work. I don't know about the rest of the plan, though. They won't let me know everything. They said I was too young, even with everything that's happened. Oh, they also said it's not right for any one person to know too much, even me." My jaw went slack and my eyes practically popped out of my head. How the Hades did she know all that? I knew the Oracle had said she knew more than most, but still. That was just way too wacked out for me, and I'd seen a lot of wacked out crap lately.

"Oh, almost forgot my manners," Abby smiled. "Mama would be so disappointed if I were rude. Anyway, yeah, I'm Abby, Jordan's sister. How are you, Krys?"

"How did…who told you…what…how…and you knew who…and…and then…but…what the Hades?" I screamed at the top of my lungs, utterly confused. Abby giggled at me, a cute and girlish sound that didn't fit in with anything that was going on.

"You know, you're funny," she laughed. "She told me we'd get along, you and I. I think we will, even after we finish helping each other. Hey, there're your friends." I turned around to find the other three sprinting down the alley, all with weapons out.

"What happened?" Brooke panted. "My gods, are you all right, Krys? We thought you were getting attacked or something."

"No, she was just trying to figure things out," Abby put in, stepping around me and walking right up to the others. "Hi, Brooke, I'm Abby. Nice sword, I've wanted to see it up close for a while. And is your sword a pen too, Nick? I'm guessing it probably is. And doesn't that watch do something? Oh, by the way, what the heck is your sword made of, Alex? In all of the history books I've looked at and all the stuff Jordan showed me, I've never seen one that was black. I mean, does it have any, like, special powers? Oh, can you guys really control water and raise the dead and…what?"

The others, like me, seemed to have a few broken jaw hinges and some eye problems. I knew they were thinking the same thing: How, in the name of the gods, did she know this stuff? Even Brooke looked at a loss for words, which I can personally say doesn't happen. But now that we'd seen how much Abby knew, would Brooke let her come to the camp? It certainly would've made my job easier than fighting with one of the most stubborn people in existence.

"How did you…you just…you knew…and you're nine…you shouldn't…but…and…and…what the Hades?" Brooke finally shouted out.

"Welcome to my world," I muttered at her.

"Yep, land of the utterly lost and forever confused," Alex said, still staring at Abby in shock.

"Shut up," I growled, pushing him into a puddle.

"Am I missing something here?" Abby asked. When nobody answered she looked back at me. "You knew I could see, right? You knew that I knew a lot of things, most things that other people don't? She said she told you. All three of them said they told her to tell you. And she told me to find you, that I could trust you, that you'd help me. You…you are Krystol, aren't you?" For the first time, Abby actually looked as confused as the rest of us. Nick was the first to really recover.

"Uh, yeah, she's Krystol, kid," he told her, trying to crack his normal, carefree smile. "She just got kind of…shocked, that's all. Actually, we all did. We don't usually meet mortals who know a lot about our world, especially one's that know all the tiny details like our names and weapons."

"Oh, that makes sense," Abby shrugged. "Come on. Let's go before they show up."

"Who are they?" Alex asked.

"The monsters," she answered. "They patrol the town a lot. I think they're looking for more demigods still. Come on." Turning on her heel, Abby walked off down the alley.

"Am I the only one who thinks she turns just like Brooke?" Nick asked, getting a punch from his sister before we set off after Abby. She led us through a few more alleys, purposely avoiding all the streets.

"Where exactly are you taking us?" Brooke asked in her _I-still-have-no-idea-if-I-should-trust-you-or-not-so-I'm-going-to-go-crazy-on-the-questions _voice.

"Home," Abby answered shortly.

"And why are we using the alleys?"

"The monsters don't use them."

"Why not?" Alex asked. "These things seem like the perfect way to travel for demigods."

"Not really," Abby shrugged. "Most of the half-bloods aren't from this area, so they don't know the alleys. They have to use the roads."

"She even answers shortly like Brooke," Nick joked under his breath.

"Would you shut up," Brooke hissed.

"Would you guys hurry?" Abby called. "We really don't need monsters right now."

"And there go the orders," Nick taunted, dodging Brooke's fist and running after Abby.

After a few more minutes, Abby turned a corner and brought us back onto a street lined with nice lawns and Victorian homes.

"Almost there," she whispered, almost like she was talking to herself. "Just a little further."

"How far is a little?" Brooke asked, sounding a little nervous. Glancing at her, I saw her eyes darting up and down the street, like she was watching out for an ambush.

Abby glanced back and said, "Just down the street. It's only like five houses down. Come on." She turned back and started walking faster, then came to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Whoa, what the Hades?" Alex yelped as he almost ran Abby over. "Hey, why'd you stop?" Abby didn't answer. She just stood stock still, staring down the road and breathing in short, ragged gasps, like she was about to cry. Trying to follow her gaze, I looked up, but I only saw a girl walking down the street with a fat bulldog.

"What's up, kid?" I asked.

"Her," Abby whispered hoarsely. "It's another one."

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked, staring at the girl as she walked toward us. "You know what? Let's just go before we attract attention. We really don't need that right now."

"Yeah, Abby," Nick agreed. "Let's just get to your house before something happens and-."

"Shut up," Abby whimpered. "Please, she'll hear you, and if that happens…" Abby froze again as the girl and her dog came within hearing distance. The girl's nose started twitching and her eyes lit up with triumph as the dog started barking. Her eyes fell over us, like she was trying to figure out if we were worth her trouble or something, but stopped at me. Her eyes changed to disappointment even though the corners of her mouth turned up.

"Good morning," the girl said in a strange, rasping voice. She walked past us like it was just another friendly meeting, though I couldn't help but notice that her eyes never left mine as she walked past us and the slight nod she gave me, like I was doing something good.

"What the…?" Alex trailed, following the girl with his eyes.

Choking on a sob, Abby grabbed my hand and bolted down the street, dragging me along with the others sprinting after us. Letting go of my hand, she turned up one of the driveways, flung open the front door, and threw herself inside. Following her in, I found Abby with her face buried in a pillow on a couch, half-screaming and half-crying into it. The others stepped into the house slowly, almost like if they moved too fast, Abby would turn into a bomb and we'd all go boom.

Gulping and taking a shaky breath, I crossed the room to Abby. Lowering my hand slowly, I started patting her on the back and whispered, "It's okay, you're fine now. You're safe, Abby." It felt really awkward, but I didn't really care too much at the moment. I sat on the ground next to her for about ten minutes, just listening to her cry while the others milled around the room nervously. Finally, Abby sat up, rubbing at her red eyes and looking around at us.

"Sorry," she sniffled, "I probably seem crazy."

"Only a little," Nick admitted.

"Nick, shut up," Brooke hissed.

"What, I was just trying to make her laugh a little," he protested.

"That doesn't mean you call her crazy."

"Hey, she said it, not me," he said, holding his hands up in innocence. Abby giggled a little, that same cute one that didn't fit in the world of monsters and myths.

"It's okay," she said, swinging off the couch. "I know I'm crazy."

"Okay, there's a difference," Alex smiled.

"What?" Brooke asked.

"There's the difference between you and Abby: she can admit she's psycho, you can't."

"Oh, go to Tartarus!" Brooke shouted, picking up someone's shoe and chucking it at Alex's head. He ducked and the shoe slammed into what looked like a very expensive vase. Abby stared at it as it fell to the ground and shattered into hundreds of pieces.

"Hm, I hope Dad won't be too mad about that," she shrugged before walking off through a doorway. "Anybody hungry?"

"Me!" the boys shouted at once, practically bulldozing each other to get to Abby.

"Oh my gods," Brooke sighed, putting her head in her hand. Then she looked at me. "This is gonna work, right?"

"Uh…yeah, sure, it'll be fine," I stumbled. I didn't like the fact that she was asking me this stuff. I mean, I know that I was the one with the real plan and the others probably thought we were just winging it, but still. Brooke was always so sure of what she did, or at least she did a really good job of acting like it. The fact that she was turning to me, a complete newbie and someone most people didn't trust, well that kind of scared me.

"Hey, you guys want some pretzels?" Abby interrupted, walking in with half a bag of pretzel sticks. "This was about all I could get that looked nice before the boys attacked the pantry."

"Um, sure, thanks," Brooke said, smiling a little and taking the bag.

"No problem," Abby smiled. The door opened up again and a man walked in.

"Dad!" Abby shouted, running forward and jumping into the man's arms.

"Oof!" the man choked as Abby hit him. "Abby, you can't do that as much anymore, remember? You're too big and I'm too old." Still, he smiled and wrapped her up in a hug, lifting her about two feet off the ground as she giggled at him.

"Oh, look who I found!" she exclaimed, wiggling out of his arms and running back to us. "This is Krystol and this is Brooke. You remember those girls from my dreams? This is them. Oh, and those two boys, Nick and Alex, they're in the kitchen."

"Yeah, you should probably kick them out of there before you lose all your food," Brooke suggested.

"Good idea," Abby frowned before looking at the kitchen door and shouting, "Get out of my pantry! I'd rather not starve!" I heard a few groans before a door slammed and the boys came into the room, both of them with some crumbs on them and Alex with chocolate pudding on the corner of his mouth.

"Um, who's this guy?" Nick asked.

"That's my dad," Abby told them. "Dad, this is Nick and Alex."

"And you're all demigods?" he asked.

"Um, for the most part," Alex answered.

"What do you-?"

"Sir," Brooke chimed in, "he means we're all half-bloods, but not necessarily demigods. It's a long story. I can assure you that we are on your side if that helps at all."

"I'm not on a side," the man said bitterly. "Monsters, gods, titans, I don't care. I lost my son because of that chaos, and the things my daughter sees torment her. I just want the fighting to end and for the monsters to be gone. But I'm not stupid, and I know that will never happen." Sighing, the man laid his keys a side table and walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry, the whole thing with Jordan, it's just so fresh still and…" Abby tried to apologize. Tears started coming into her eyes again.

"Well, uh, your dad didn't notice the broken jar," Nick said, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, he probably did, he's just really mellow. He's been kind of detached since… Hey, are you guys staying in town long? We can let you stay here if you want, I'm sure Dad won't care."

"Abby," her dad said, walking back from the kitchen, "I've got to go back to work. We're working on a big project and they need me. I'll probably be gone until tomorrow morning. Remember, keep the doors and windows locked, don't let anybody or anything in, and don't leave. There's sandwich stuff in the pantry for dinner and lunch. Be careful, baby, okay?" He kissed her on the top of her head before walking out the door and locking it behind him.

"Yeah, you can stay here then," Abby turned to us.

"Thanks, but I don't know how long we'll be here," Brooke said. "After all, we don't want to attract any monsters."

"Well those ones down the street didn't really do anything, so maybe the monsters are leaving soon."

"I doubt it. Their job isn't finished. I know we would've heard if… Hold on, did you say those _ones_? As in, more than one monster was out there?"

"Yeah, there were two of them. The girl was one of those weird snake things and she had that big, black dog with the red eyes with her. You didn't see them?"

"Sometimes the Mist can trick half-bloods," Alex grumbled. "Maybe with all the monsters around, the Mist is going into overdrive to hide them."

"Maybe, hopefully it won't be like that around the camp," Nick said.

"Well, what would it matter if it was like that?" Abby asked. "I could just tell you who's a monster and who's not."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Brooke asked, crossing her arms.

"Um, I'd look at them," Abby said, sounding confused.

"No you won't," Brooke said.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not going."

"What?" Abby and I shouted together. Even the boys looked surprised, like they'd been as convinced as us two that Abby was going.

"You heard me," Brooke answered firmly. "It's way too dangerous. You froze against just two monsters, and they were the wimpy ones if I'm thinking of the right ones. That, and the four of us have almost died who knows how many times on this quest against monsters, and we haven't gone up against the type of numbers they have at the camp. I'm not sure if you knew this, but monsters will kidnap or kill mortals if they're useful or in the way. Usually, they won't bug mortals, but you can see through the Mist, they might see you as a tool or a threat, and I'm not going to risk your life."

"I can take care of myself!" Abby protested.

"Really, from what I saw, you freaked out pretty good with those ones on the street."

"Oh come on, Brooke. It was one time."

"And how do I know that you haven't frozen up before? How do I know you wouldn't freeze up if you met worse? Sorry kid, but it's too dangerous."

"It's my life, shouldn't I have a choice?"

"It's my quest, I choose who goes and who doesn't, and I've made my choice, Abby."

"But-."

"No, I'm not letting you come and that's final, do you understand?"

"But Brooke-."

"Abby, that's enough. I won't take you with us." Brooke turned around and scowled at the rest of us. "And I don't want to hear anything from you three. We're not taking her and that's it."

"Brooke, please," I pleaded, "just-."

"Look," Brooke turned back to Abby, "I'm really glad that you brought us in and gave us something to eat, and I hope we can still crash here for a little bit, but I won't take you with us. It's just too dangerous."

"Fine," Abby said after a minute. Her fists were clenched and her voice was tight with anger. "You guys can stay as long as you want." With that, she stormed down one of the halls and up a set of stairs.

"Way to go, Brooke," I sneered. "Nice job pissing off one of the few people that can and will help us out here."

"Don't you dare pin this on me, Krystol Lore," she growled. Her eyes looked like they were churning like the storm clouds they mirrored, flashing with bold streaks of bright green. Like they always did, her eyes scared me, along with the fact that for the first time in what felt like weeks, she'd used my whole name. "I'm just trying to keep her safe. And we won't be staying long, so don't get comfy. We're going to figure out a plan and we're gone, got it?" With that, she stormed into the kitchen.

"Gods, what's her problem lately?" I muttered.

"I don't know, she's really protective, but she's not usually like that," Nick answered, plopping down on the couch.

"Why is she so protective exactly? I mean, I know she's a demigod and all, but still."

"She uh, she had a rough start."

"What do you mean?"

"It deals with how she got to the camp," Alex said.

"Yeah, I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone what happened," Nick added. "The entire cabin promised her we'd let her tell people, it was just easier like that."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Well, let's just say that she had a rude intro into our world," he told me. "She got into some monster trouble, and things almost went bad, but a satyr found her in time and got her to the camp. She was only nine, just like Abby. Since then, she's been really protective of anybody that means something to her, even if she barely knows them. She doesn't want them to get into the kind of trouble she did, so she does what she thinks is necessary to protect them."

"Well, that…that certainly explains a lot," I said miserably.

"That doesn't mean you have to agree with her," Alex put in. "We don't always agree with how she tries to take care of others. Then again, we didn't have the same problems she did."

"How did you guys get brought into this mess?" I asked.

"Well, I got brought in better than most," Nick said. "I wasn't brought in with Brooke because when she had her little problem, I was at Alex's house. So, about a year after that, when the next summer session was starting up, my parents took me with Brooke to the camp. I guess they'd been seeing a lot more monsters in the area of our home since Brooke had found out, and they were worried the monsters would try something again, especially if they figured out that there was another demigod who was untrained. So, before the monsters could try something, Mom and Dad took me to camp."

"My intro was a pretty simple one, too," Alex added. "I was the only mix-blood that hadn't been introduced to camp yet, or at least the only one that we knew of. Anyway, my parents figured out that I'd been talking to ghosts for a while, and that I'd also been having some uh, nightmares. Anyway, they'd started noticing more monsters too and decided to take me to camp. We almost got caught by a couple of monsters on the way. Actually, the trunk of our car was ripped off and we had two flats by the time we got there. Even then, Dad had to bring out a couple of dead guys just so Mom could get me across the border."

"Oh, well um…" I trailed, trying to think of something to say.

"Let's just move to a new subject," Nick suggested. "Got any questions still?"

"Well…" I started, trying to remember any of my buried questions. "Yeah, there is one thing I can think of in particular: the servant. You guys said it has to kill a certain number of demigods in a certain order."

"Well, they aren't all demigods," Alex put in. "At least, I don't think they're all demigods. I'm not sure, I just found out about the order a few months ago. I overheard my parents saying something about a kid named Chase."

"No, not all of them were demigods," Nick said, his face tilted to the ground like he didn't want to face what he was going to say. "I think Brooke said it before, but it has to kill fifteen times: one satyr, one hunter, and thirteen half-bloods. At this point, it only has to kill two half-bloods."

"Okay, but what about these kids, like Chase?" I interrupted. "What do they have to do with this? Unless…" Nick started nodding.

"Chase Pilfer was his name. He was a son of Nemesis, only fifteen. He died back in December," Nick explained.

"And what about Kasey?" I asked. Nick gave me a weird look at the name. "I've had a dream or two that she was in, and it ended badly."

"Yeah, Kasey Marrlet. She was one of Brooke's best friends. Kasey was thirteen, and the Athenian it needed. It got her right under our noses. I don't know everything, but I guess Kasey wanted to visit home for a few hours and managed to get permission from the adults. Brooke went with her to keep an eye out. Kasey left the alley they were in at her street and Brooke turned to leave. That's when it got her, with one of our own right there. That was back in April, a few weeks before she went after you."

"Wait," I said, starting to remember something. My mind flashed back to the crumpled paper on the floor, the one Brooke had lost. I saw the names, the numbers, and their parents. "That list Brooke had, with all those kids on it, are those…?"

"Yeah, all the ones it killed," Nick finished. "Wait, how do you know about the list?"

"Um, I sort of found it that day Brooke had her flip out dream, when you and her got in that fight."

"Oh."

"Wait, what list?" Alex asked.

"It's nothing really," Nick told him. "It's just got some info on all the kids the servant killed: names, age, parents, how long after the war it had been. I don't know why she made it. I think it had something to do with trying to track patterns, like she was trying to figure out who it might go after. It might also just be for memory, so that they aren't just forgotten."

"And so they can be avenged?" I asked.

"I don't know," Nick said, giving me a dark look. "Brooke never was the kind to look for any real revenge. Then again, when you lose your friends, well, I'm guessing it could change you. Still, I don't think Brooke would really turn to revenge." We went into an awkward silence for a few minutes, lost on what to say to each other.

"We really should try to make a plan," Alex finally put in.

"Since when did you start thinking logically?" Nick smiled. Alex rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Well, we could use the labyrinth," Brooke started, walking back into the room and scaring us all. "It's like Alex said, why would monsters think of us using it?"

"Do we have any way to navigate it?" I asked.

"Nope, we're winging it in there," she sighed. "We need to focus on the rest now."

"Well, we want to release the others and have them help us," Nick reminded.

"Right, but how exactly are we going to do that with all those monsters around?" Alex brought up.

"Well, Nick and I have the hats. We could go around without being seen, grab a couple half-bloods at a time."

"Okay, but you can't turn them invisible. The hats only cover the wearer. What would the monsters do if they found half-bloods randomly roaming all over the camp?"

"And that's if you guys can even find where they're hiding the kids," I added.

"Well, I could shadow around the camp until I find them," Alex suggested.

"No, too risky," Brooke objected. "You'd pop out of the shadows completely visible, and that would really suck if a monster just happened to be where you stopped."

"True, but what other ways are there?" he asked. Brooke pursed her lips and the boys started glancing around.

"Are we just gonna end up winging this half, too?" I asked impatiently.

"At this point, it certainly looks like, doesn't it," Brooke muttered.

"Great, so we're diving headfirst into a monster-infested maze to get to a monster-infested camp to fight off a massive monster army with absolutely no plan," Nick summed up sarcastically. "Well, we sure are a bunch of geniuses, aren't we?"

"Well, it's all we've really got," Brooke countered quietly. "We have information, but not the right stuff, and the Stolls haven't contacted us, so this is all we've got."

"At this rate, we're gonna fail, huh?" Alex guessed.

"Probably," Brooke sighed, walking back toward the kitchen. "Get some rest, guys. I'll keep an eye out and switch off in a few hours, just to see if I can think of something. Be ready to roll at dark, and nobody tells her when we're leaving, got it?" Brooke whispered the last bit as she turned to look at the hall that led to the stairs. Dropping her eyes, she walked back in the kitchen without another word. Letting out a breath, I grabbed a couch pillow and curled up on one of the chairs, watching Alex ball up on the couch and Nick stretch out across the floor. _I really hope this works out_ I thought, falling asleep.

_Well done, Krystol _I heard. I saw Tartarus form in front of me and knew Kronos was calling me again.

_Thank you, father. I hope I have pleased you._

_You have, child, much more than many who have served me since before the first war. I trust you now have the mortal with you as well._

_Y-yes father, she's with us._

_You sound nervous. How have you failed me?_

_I didn't say anything about failing. It's just that, well, the Jackson girl was giving me trouble. She insisted that we not bring the mortal, but I managed to sway her to my side. The mortal will be with us when I arrive at the camp._

_Good. Do not allow the Jacksons to get in the way of our plans. Their parents did too much damage in the last war because my servant refused to do what was necessary to keep them out of the way. I do not need that to happen again._

_Of course father. I can promise you that I will succeed._

I felt the dream change, and I found myself in the Big House attic, staring at the old Oracle.

_What do you want?_

_I thought you could use some help_ she said. _The others intend to use the labyrinth, but it is as Abigail said: the half-bloods do not know the town well enough. They do not know how to navigate the alleyways, they do not know the buildings, most hardly know the names of the streets, and those are the half-bloods who actually use the town. How does Brooke expect to find her way to the maze with no understanding of the town?_

_I don't know, maybe she's finally gone crazy._

The Oracle laughed. _Oh, child, I can assure you that Brooke is completely sane. But she does not know how to get where she needs to._

_Yeah, none of us do. This town makes no sense. It's too small. I mean, we couldn't have gone to some huge city like L.A. or San Diego. You know, if this were a city, I could probably navigate it almost perfectly._

_I'm sure you could, Krystol, as could Brooke, Nick, and Alex. All of you were raised in a large city, so that is what you know. But Abigail has lived almost her entire life in a small world. Ask her, I'm sure she can lead you._

_No, she can't. Brooke won't let her come. She said she didn't want to endanger Abby's life, or some crap like that. _

_Hm, be that as it may, I do believe Abby will be joining you. After all, you were chosen to protect her. Anyhow, you should go back to that diner. Across the street is an old bed-and-breakfast. Ask them if you can go to the attic. That should help you get to the camp. _She began to fade away with a quiet hissing noise before folding into a little green gardener snake and sliding away into blackness.

I woke up to Nick shaking my shoulder. Brooke and Alex were already up, stretching and pulling on backpacks. Glancing out a window, I saw the sun was gone and that night had taken over.

"Time to go," Nick said.

"It's only nine-thirty," I whispered. "Wouldn't it be better to wait a little longer, just to be sure Abby's not awake and any late night people don't catch us?"

"Yeah, but Brooke thinks it'd be better to leave now, just to be sure we can get to the camp before dawn and the light gives us away. Besides, I saw Abby come downstairs in her pajamas around eight for a glass of water. She said she was going to bed after that."

"C'mon guys, it's time to go," Brooke urged, opening the front door. It gave off a loud squeak, freezing us all where we were. "Someone please tell me she didn't just wake up." Crossing the room without a sound, Alex looked down the hallway for about a minute, then back at us.

"We're good," he nodded.

"Let's move," Brooke said, darting into the night. Following last, I pushed the door closed, listening to it slam before running after the others.

"Um, I just remembered something," Alex put in. "Don't we need a labyrinth entrance to get into the labyrinth?"

"Yeah, so?" Nick said.

"Where exactly is there an entrance around here?"

"Uh, did not think of that one," Brooke said slowly.

"Well, aren't you a genius," he muttered sarcastically. Brooke glared at him, but just kept walking down the street.

"Uh, guys, can I say something?" I asked.

"Sure, we could use every idea at this point," Nick grumbled.

"Okay, let's try to get back to that diner," I suggested.

"Krys, we just ate a few hours ago," Brooke said. "Besides, we've got stale sandwiches and trail mix crumbs to eat."

"Oh just trust me on this," I whined.

"Why do you even want to go there?" Alex asked tiredly.

"Because, I got a…_tip_ from a, uh, a friend. She said to try it."

"Okay, who remembers how to get back there?"

"I do," Brooke sighed. "Come on." She turned around and started walking back from where we'd come. Turning into the alley Abby had brought us out of, I glanced back down at her house, thinking of how much I was failing right now. I almost ran back at the house for a second when I saw a shadow dart behind someone's hedge. Shaking my head, I figured I was just going crazy and followed the others. Twenty minutes later of twisting and turning and almost getting lost twice, we finally came out next to Abby's school. From there, it only took us ten minutes to find the diner.

"Okay, psycho," Nick turned to me, "what now?" Glancing down the street, I saw an old Victorian building with a sign that looked like it read: **Mtarhas' Totacg: Dbe oam Dcoeftost**. Considering my dyslexia, I was assuming that was the place we needed.

"There," I said, pointing at the building. "We need to get in the attic."

"Why?" Alex asked.

"I don't know," I admitted, walking across the street and up the steps to the front door with the others jogging after me. I pulled the door open and walked into the building. It was a nice, cozy place. The reception area was set up like a living room with a few couches, a coffee table, and even a brick fireplace.

"Welcome to Martha's Cottage: Bed and Breakfast, how may I help you," a bored voice said. I turned to find a girl, maybe twenty-five or so with light hair and a tired face.

"Um, hi, I'm…" I started, letting off at the end. What was I supposed to say? _Hi, I'm Krystol, the daughter of the titan king, Kronos. I'm looking for an entrance to an ancient Greek maze so I can find a camp that doesn't exist to mortals. I know I'm covered in dirt and scratches and probably smell like Mexican food left out for a week, but do you mind if I look in the attic? Thanks. _Yeah, that'd go over well, wouldn't it?

"Look kid," she said, blowing a bubble and popping it loudly before sucking the gum back in her mouth to chew again, "I'm not really supposed to rent out rooms after ten, and I'm not supposed to give rooms to kids at all. So why don't you just go back to chucking rocks at windows or spray painting the backs of businesses or something."

"Um, one, we aren't juvenile delinquents here, lady," I snapped. "And two, we aren't here to rent a room. We're here to uh…to…"

"To clean up the attic," Brooke chipped in.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "We're part of this program that sends kids out to uh…help people uh…clean up."

"Honestly," the woman started. "Do you really expect me to believe that load of-?" Brooke cut her off with a snap.

"We are part of a program that recruits kids and sends them out to help people and teach us the value of work," she said slowly and softly. "The owners of this place called our program and we were sent to clear out the attic for a yard sale. We were supposed to come at eight, but we got distracted when we were hiking in the woods to pass time. We'd like to do the job now, though, if you don't mind."

"Um, I don't know," she replied hesitantly. "It's really late and the guests wouldn't want to be woken. But if Ms. Martha called you in, I wouldn't want to be on her bad side. Fine, but if I hear anything overly loud or dust starts falling from the floorboards, I'm coming after you guys. Take the stairs all the way up." Nodding, we tip-toed up the stairs until we came to the top in front of an old, banged up metal door.

"Who sticks a metal door in a Victorian house?" Brooke whispered.

"I don't know," Nick murmured. "Although, are we sure that Aphrodite didn't bless you at some point with charmspeak? Because at this point, it doesn't even seem like you're controlling the Mist." Brooke shrugged and turned back to the door.

"What's charmspeak?" I asked.

"Eh, it's one of Aphrodite's blessings," Nick said. "A charmspeaker can get someone to do almost anything just by speaking, to a certain degree anyway. It's not common, but it's definitely useful from what I've heard."

"Yeah, but I'm not Aphrodite's daughter," Brooke said.

"May as well be with the way you're Mist control is working lately." Brooke ignored him and started to pull on the rusted handle. The door didn't even groan a little, even after all four of us tried.

"How do we look at the attic exactly if we can't even get the door open?" Alex complained.

"I don't know, maybe there's a key somewhere," Nick suggested.

"Ugh, and here I was thinking we'd finally caught a break," I grumbled, leaning back against the door. My hand brushed against something, like a shape on the door. Without turning around, I started fingering at the shape, figuring out that it was a triangle etched shallowly into the metal. Bored, I laid my hand back across it.

"Well, what now?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, maybe Nick's right and there is a key," Brooke said. "Let's go back down and ask the desk lady." I pushed away from the door to follow, and felt the triangle push in like a button. The next second, I was free-falling backwards. Screaming, I reached out and caught somebody's shirt, dragging them with me. I landed on a stone floor, the air forced out of my lungs by the impact a second before someone landed on top of me. Some more thuds and a couple more shouts sounded off to the side.

"Gods, Krys, what was that?" one of the boys coughed.

"I don't know," I gasped, hearing another thud somewhere.

"Alright, body check," I heard Brooke choke out. "Alex?"

"Here."

"Nick?"

"Alive."

"Krys?"

"Dying from collapsed lungs, but still here."

"Okay, now what was that?" Brooke said.

"I don't know," I said. "I accidentally pressed something on the door, and it just opened up to this."

"Was it a triangle button?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Delta," the other three said together.

"Well, looks like we found the labyrinth entrance," Alex muttered.

"Nice job, Krys," Brooke congratulated. "I don't know how you did it, but you got us to the labyrinth."

"Whoa! We're in the actual labyrinth?" somebody shouted. Spinning towards the new voice, I tapped my sword and saw the faint glow from the others' swords. With all the light put together, I could just make out a small figure in front of us. She had dark hair done up in a ponytail and a backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Abby?" we all gasped in shock.

"Hey, guys," she said with a huge grin. "Mind if I join?"

**Okay, there ya go. I know it's not the most interesting chapter, and that this is the second chapter without any action in a row, but I needed to set up for some stuff later on. Anyway, I hope you guys still liked it, and I promise that action will be coming. Oh, since I have that giant camp battle coming, I definitely need to listen to one of my reviewers and find some new monsters. If anyone has any suggestions or knows any good websites I could check out, I'd love to hear it. Well, that's about it, so let's all hope I can update faster. R&R people. Peace out.**


	14. Let's All Tick Off the Leader

**Chapter 14: Let's All Tick Off the Leader**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I hold no ownership of PJO. That would be freaking awesome if I did though. Actually, it wouldn't, I'd probably mess up the whole thing… On with the story!**

Brooke was the first to recover. "Abigail Murry, what in the name of the gods do you think you're doing!"

"Uh, joining you," she replied.

"No! I flat out told you that you weren't coming!"

"And I told you that I can take care of myself, it's my life, and I can get you through here."

"Abigail-!"

"Oh come on, what can you do about it anyway? I'm already here and the door is gone. The only way for you to get rid of me and still get to the camp in time to save them is if you deserted me in this place, and that'd be worse. You'd be leaving a nine-year-old kid in the middle of the labyrinth, which is covered in monsters, and I wouldn't even be able to get out if I found a gate because I don't have a demigod's touch. That and you guys would be completely lost in here and probably wouldn't get there in time."

"You know, she's got a point there, Brooke," Nick shrugged.

"Shut up!" Brooke screamed.

"Thank you," Abby said calmly. "Brooke, please, I can really help you, and not letting me come would only make things more dangerous. Be reasonable." Brooke started pacing, fuming and spouting out words in ancient Greek that, judging by the boys' expressions, weren't very kind. After ten minutes, Brooke finally stopped and glared at Abby.

"If you slow us down, or endanger my friends in any way, I swear, I will dip you in the Styx, dangle you over Tartarus for ten years, and have sharks chase you every time you step foot in water, got it?"

"Perfectly," Abby smiled. Growling, Brooke stormed off down a tunnel to the left.

"We're supposed to go right," Abby called. Growling even louder, Brooke turned and stormed past us down the other tunnel.

"Boy is she pissed at you," Alex muttered to Abby.

"She'll get over it," Abby shrugged, trotting after Brooke with the boys behind.

"Well, I got my mortal," I grumbled. _At least it'll be easier to watch her now_ I thought before setting off after the others.

We spent what felt like hours following Abby through twists and turns. I suddenly wasn't so sure that following a little girl through an impossible maze was a good idea, but Abby seemed to go through the tunnels like they were her own home. I didn't like the other fact that my internal senses were screwing up. I couldn't figure out the time anymore, almost like it didn't exist here. Still, I felt stronger, even if I was in Hades' territory. It was like he didn't exist in the maze, like monsters and evil ruled and I was feeding off of it. Yeah, that sounds wonderful, a great way to keep down your dinner, huh? Anyway, I was sure we'd be able to get through, it was only a matter of how long it would take, but I'd had long enough to figure out that time was everything.

"I think we're almost there," Abby finally announced.

"How?" Alex asked. "It's only been a few minutes, and I'm pretty sure we haven't even walked a mile yet."

"Are you serious?" I blurted. "We must have walked for at least two hours, and I feel like I've already walked a marathon."

"I think you're both crazy," Nick told us. "Seriously, it feels like a few miles and maybe an hour, not what you guys are saying."

"Well, I think it's the maze," Brooke said. "We've all heard the story about how it messes with time and how hard figuring distance is, especially since you can end up anywhere."

"Brooke's on the right track," Abby piped in.

"How do you know?" Alex asked.

"'Cause I do," she shrugged.

"Short answers," Nick whispered at Brooke, getting another punch.

"I thought this place was supposed to have, like, monsters and booby traps and stuff like that," Abby started.

"It is," Brooke told her. "I don't know why we haven't met anything yet. I know that a half-blood using the labyrinth isn't a very common idea, but still. This is total monster territory."

"Maybe the titans told them to back off," Alex said, trying to sound scary. "Maybe they want us all to themselves. You never know. Something could be creeping down the halls as we speak, hissing while blood drips from its battle ax, just waiting to sink its razor-sharp claws into our skin and drag us to Tartarus to leave us at the mercy of the titans." He waited a few seconds before shouting and grabbing Abby by the shoulders. I gasped, my heart hammering, and both Brooke and Nick jumped. Abby didn't even flinch, only stopped and turned around to face him.

"You're gonna have to do way better than that," she challenged with a smirk before turning back to the tunnel and walking on.

"Don't _ever _do that again," Brooke hissed, cuffing him over the head before heading after Abby.

"Dude," Nick started, "so not cool. Not here."

"I was just trying to lighten the mood a little," he said in a small voice.

"Normally, I'd try the same thing, but not here." Nick walked off without glancing back.

"Sorry?" Alex tried at me.

"Just forget it," I said, trying to smile, motioning for him to go ahead.

"Maybe we should rest for a while," I tried tiredly after what felt like another hour.

"No, we're so close," Abby insisted. "I can feel it. Just a little longer, I promise." I glanced at Brooke.

"Don't look at me," she said, raising her hands. "You're the one who suggested following her in the first place." I could tell she wanted to stop, too. Her eyes were already half-closed and a little unfocused. She was even swaying a little. The only thing that could've been keeping her going was the idea of saving all those kids.

"Yeah, Krys," Nick jumped in, "if we're almost there, we should just finish it out."

"Besides," Alex added, "haven't you ever heard that one saying: I can sleep when I'm dead?"

"Not very comforting," I grumbled, "especially since we might be at that stage soon." He only shrugged and walked after the others.

"Can you say how far we are, Abby?" Brooke asked.

"Not exactly, but not far," she said.

"That's helpful," I muttered.

"Duck!" Abby screamed. I had one second to see something flying at us before I hit the ground and heard it thud behind us. A roar echoed through the tunnel, and of course, it sounded pretty close.

"This way, and stay quiet," Abby whispered, rushing down a side tunnel. Another roar went off, sounding even closer. I could hear footsteps now, big ones. Then a new sound came, a dog barking.

"Anyone have any ideas what's following us?" I gasped.

"Brooke, big monsters and dogs, fast," Alex said.

"Dogs, uh, Orthus, I think Artemis had a few hounds, could be wolves," she guessed.

"What about Laelaps?" Nick asked.

"The stories say Zeus put him and the fox in the stars."

"I thought he let them back after a while if they wouldn't chase each other."

"That's just a rumor, there was never any real proof found that I know of."

"Okay and big monsters?" Alex butted in.

"Just about everything in the books," she said.

"Well that helps," Abby said, fighting for air.

"We can't go forever, they'll catch us if we don't get out of here," I warned.

"I know, just a little further," Abby promised, just before a dog jumped out in front of us.

"Whoa, what the heck?" Alex shouted, skidding and slamming into Abby as she stopped.

"L-Laelaps," Brooke stammered.

"Told you," Nick whispered.

The dog howled into the darkness around us. Lowering its head, the dog sat down and stared at us with cold, dark eyes. It had dirty, matted gray fur and the ears of a hunting dog. It let out another howl before getting back up and trotting up to us.

"Uh, what is it?" I asked as it started circling around us.

"A hunting dog," Brooke answered.

"More like _the_ hunting dog," Nick muttered. "Zeus made it for one of his girlfriends back in the old days. Once it's given a scent, it hunts until it catches its prey, and it always catches its prey."

"That lucky?" I asked.

"No, it's fated to always catch its prey," Brooke corrected. "That is, until it was sent after a fox that was fated to never be caught. Zeus took pity and ended up sticking the pair in the stars. There've been rumors for the last few centuries that Zeus brought them down, but like I said, no real proof. One rumor was that the dog helped Washington find the exact location of the Hessians at Trenton. Another says it helped the Confederate guerrilla guys find Union men to ambush. Another says it led the U.S. army to Apache, Navajo, and Pima camps in the southwest, and then led the Sioux and others to ambush troops in the plains."

"And this isn't considered proof?" Alex asked, eyeing the dog.

"No, it only helps those related to the gods in some way. To most mortals, he's just another mangy mutt," the dog snapped and growled at this, "but demigods and clear-sighted mortals know different. Even then, it's illusive, so most don't see it, and those that supposedly do don't tell anyone who asks anything about it. So, we technically have no proof."

"Until now," Abby added.

"Right, now what do we do?" I asked.

"Well, someone had to have sent it after us," Nick started, "so I'm assuming it'll just stick with us and howl until its new master comes."

"So, run before something finds us?" Alex asked.

"Won't matter if we do," Brooke murmured. "It'll just find us again. I was never positive about it, but the myth says that even though it's usually just a tracker, it will attack if its prey tries to escape."

"Wonderful, what now?" I hissed. The dog howled again, and this time the footsteps started up again, sounding even closer. Brooke cursed in Greek and took a step down the tunnel. Before I could blink, the dog had bounded across the tunnel and jumped in front of Brooke, snarling and baring its fangs.

"Good boy, Laelaps," a guttural voice boomed. I could've sworn that the dog actually rolled its eyes. The tunnel started trembling with each step, and dirt sprayed down on us. The dog sat down against the wall and looked back at where we'd come from. Glancing behind me, I watched as a giant, blue thing wedged itself into the tunnel. "She'll be happy. You did good, doggy."

"Did that monster just call him a doggy?" I asked for lack of anything else to say.

"A hyperborean, that's exactly what we needed," Nick growled, ignoring my question.

"Where is she?" the giant asked, like it was talking to itself. He swung around to look for something, slamming the battle ax resting on his shoulder into one of the walls and shaking the entire tunnel. Clods of dirt and rocks fell on us, and cracks started spreading up the sides. Someone let out a squeal, and the giant swiveled toward us, slamming the ax again and tripping another earth rain.

"Hm, we found you at least," he rumbled. "Kronos will be happy that we found you mixes. He was really mad when we couldn't catch you earlier. This should make things…" The giant stopped talking and looked at me, collapsing down on one knee and throwing his eyes to the ground. "Great titan princess, it is you. We have awaited your arrival. Your father will be most pleased." _Shut up _I thought. _You're screwing up my plan._ Desperate, I pulled out my sword, raced at the monster, completely ignoring the fact that it was almost twenty feet tall, and sliced away, turning the giant to dust and dirt before he could even look up.

"Krys, what the Hades was that?" Brooke screamed. "Why did you do that?"

"Uh, get rid of it before it attacks?" I tried.

"It was just starting to talk! I know I don't like monsters, and none of us here would say any different, but you can get some info from some of the more stupid ones."

"Yeah, and it sounded like he was letting out some info on you," Nick scowled. "Why'd he call you a titan princess, and say that they've been waiting for you?"

"I-I don't know," I stammered, trying to come up with anything. "I am the titan king's daughter, so I'm a princess by default, whether I like him or not. And maybe he still wants to recruit me, so he's been waiting for me to show up at the camp. How am I supposed to know his motives? I completely hate the guy."

"I've heard different," a smooth voice hummed. Someone completely covered in a dark cloak was walking down the tunnel towards us. They stopped a few feet away, stared at the pile of dirt at my feet, and muttered, "Such a pity."

"Who or _what_ are you?" Alex asked.

"Lamia," they answered easily, and I realized she was a woman.

"Who?" Alex asked.

"You don't know me?" she asked, more out of curiosity than surprise.

"The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it," Nick said, almost to himself. Brooke was quiet, but she looked like her mind was racing to put things together.

"Hm, certainly not what I expected," she replied, sounding disappointed. "I was once the scourge of children throughout Greece. Mothers threatened their little ones by telling them I would come along and steal them in the night to eat them for misbehaving."

"Excuse me?" I blurted.

"Oh yes, and I was quite good at it, though it tended to not matter if they misbehaved or not. It was simply easier to snatch them whenever they happened to be outside."

"Oh, well uh, that sounds wonderful," Abby whimpered.

"Well, you certainly are an odd bunch," she said, and I heard her start sniffing. "Three demigods, all with dirty blood."

"Hey, whose blood are you calling dirty," Nick snapped.

"Well, isn't someone impulsive," she laughed softly. "I assume it comes from the sea. I can smell it you know, on you and the girl. And the death that lingers with your friend, mixed with something sweet and hopeful. What an odd combination."

"Yeah, we call it stars," Alex muttered under his breath.

"The blood of a titan, and how strong it is, too. I would assume one so far from and long lost to the titans would have a weaker scent, but yours is so powerful. And what's this? Is it…mortal blood? My, there is a scent I have not smelt in many centuries. Why, the last time I had a mortal child's blood must have been in 1300s. And I would have continued to find more if that old horse, Chiron, hadn't found me and sent his little pests after me and my demons."

"Well, that's nice and all, but we really should be going," Brooke finally interrupted. She grabbed Abby's hand and turned to leave, but Laelaps leapt back in front of her.

"I would let you all go. All you would need to do is leave the little mortal behind, then you could continue on this pointless little quest of yours."

"In your dreams, witch," Brooke sneered, keeping her eyes on the dog. At an impossible speed, Lamia swept past the boys and me and grabbed hold of Abby's arm. Hearing Abby scream, Brooke twisted around and swung out with her fists. Lamia fell back hissing, and the cloak fell from her. Seeing her clearly, it was no wonder mothers would scare their children with her story. Her skin was a sallow gray color, all wrinkled and pitted with scars. She was nothing but skin and bones, like she'd been starving since her little return trip from Hades. Her hands ended in wicked sharp talons that curved and gleamed without any light. Her eyes were cold and vicious, almost completely black in the middle and bloodshot to the point that you could hardly see any white. Her teeth were all filed down to razor fangs that still had bits of something that I didn't want to know about in them. Silky black hair fell down her back, making me think that maybe she was one of those _cursed-by-the-gods_ monsters.

Hissing and spitting, she threw herself at Brooke, throwing her to the ground and rolling down the tunnel.

"Brooke," Nick screamed, darting forward and getting tackled by Laelaps.

"Leave them alone!" Alex yelled and started to raise skeletons. Separating herself from Brooke, Lamia spread her hands and shouted something in another language. Shadows began melting and peeling away from the walls, forming into vaguely human shapes that were only about four feet tall with ghostly claws and blood red eyes. The shadows kept changing from humanoid figures to misshapen animals, like oversized cats, dogs, and rats.

"I'd like you to meet my little coven," Lamia snarled.

"Where'd she get a coven?" Nick shouted at no one, throwing Laelaps off of him.

"Oh, perhaps I should have told you that I was Hecate's little girl, her favorite at the time actually. She gave me greater powers than her other children had. It was too bad that I was soon liked by more than my mother. The titans took an interest in me. I'm sure you heard how the titans have whispered into the minds of mortals, demigods, even gods over the millennia since they were defeated. They promised me great power if I helped them. I took the opportunity and began to steal children to raise them in loyalty to the titans. The gods found out and cursed me. My own mother turned me into this. The titans said I'd failed and dumped me like the gods. To survive, I did what I did best then: stole children and fed myself. And taking you all will certainly make a good dinner and vengeance." She lunged at Nick.

"Leave him alone!" Brooke shrieked, tackling Lamia with her knife out. The shadows moved forward to attack. Swinging my sword, I cut through one and stabbed another in the middle. I heard Abby scream and turned to see her ducking and jumping as a dog-demon swiped at her. I tried to make my way over to her. I couldn't lose her, not now. She was too important. But what could I do? I couldn't watch Abby and myself. Even if I had given her my sword and used my discus, I doubted she could lift it. _I _could barely lift the thing still.

I heard metal clatter on the ground and looked up to see Brooke and Lamia going at it hand-to-hand. Brooke's dagger was only a few feet away, and I knew it had to be fairly light. Darting through, rolling under, and jumping over monsters, I slid across the floor and scooped up the knife. I hacked my way back through the mess and skewered the monster that had trapped Abby against the wall.

"Fight!" I screamed at her over the noise of the battle. She nodded and I turned back to the situation. The boys were handling themselves. They were surrounded by a dead army and water spouts were rocketing at random through the ground. Brooke was still in a hand fight with Lamia, and as good as she was, it didn't look like she was winning. Lamia was just faster than her, and her combat skills were sharp and strong from millennia of fighting for survival. Brooke already had a cut on her forehead and long red line on her pants from her right calf. Figuring I couldn't let Lamia win when we were this close, I pulled out my discus and fell into my stance, blocking out the sounds of the fight. Taking careful aim, I sucked in a breath, prayed to anyone that was watching or listening that I wouldn't hit Brooke, and flung it with everything I had. It sailed through the tunnel, slicing through a few of Lamia's coven pals, and slammed into Lamia's waist. She crashed to the ground, spitting and scrambling around. Without hesitating even a second, Brooke yanked out her sword and lashed out at Lamia.

Pain suddenly shot up my leg and I hit the ground. Rolling, I missed a cat's claws by inches and punched at it, sending it flying away. I glanced at my leg and saw my jeans turning deep red just above my ankle. I glanced back up in time to kick out at giant rat. More dirt and rock spilled down on top of me. I dared a look up at the ceiling to see it webbed with cracks and dipping down towards us all. The walls were now mostly split and even holes were forming in them.

"It's falling!" I shouted out at no one.

"This way!" I heard one of the boys. Following voices, I found Abby screaming, although it was mostly in rage now and came out with every hack she made at a monster. I chopped down a monster coming up behind her and grabbed her hand, pulling her after me into the army the boys were behind. We found them in the chaos and heard Alex shout out something in Greek. The soldiers began to move away from us, backing the monsters away until they had built a bone wall between us and Lamia's pets. We turned tail and darted toward Brooke and Lamia. Nick slammed into the demon, taking her out at the knees.

"Run!" Alex shouted, clapping his hands as loud as he could. The tunnel began to rumble and shake. The roof dropped off in chunks and the ground started breaking apart and rolling. A water spout burst out of Brooke's backpack and slammed into Lamia, throwing her back into Alex's army. Brooke spun Abby and I around and shoved us after the boys. We ran as fast as we could, dust billowing up in front of us as the labyrinth collapsed.

We ran until one of the boys tripped and we all fell on top of him.

"Okay, we are never doing that again," Nick gasped, wiggling his way out of the pile.

"Yeah, like we had a choice," Brooke coughed. I tapped my charms, watching my sword disappear in a flash and waiting for the discus.

"Well, little road map, where are we?" Alex asked Abby.

"First off," she started with a glare, "call me a road map again and I will lead you to a cliff in this place and chuck you off of it."

"Feisty," I heard Nick mutter.

"Second, we aren't too far now. We actually managed to stay on course, that or the labyrinth rerouted itself."

"Can we please not talk about this thing like it's actually alive?" I begged.

"Why not? It is, isn't it?" Abby asked.

"Because, it's just creepy."

"Well, get over your creepy feelings and walk," Brooke said. Grumbling, I stood up, dusted off my jeans, and turned to follow the others when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was Laelaps, and he was trotting leisurely down the corridor toward us with his tongue hanging out.

"Uh, Brooke, we've got company," I warned. The others stopped and stared at the dog. He stopped for a second and cocked his head to the side, then walked up and sat down in front of Abby.

"Uh, what do I do?" Abby asked nervously.

"Throw a bone," Alex suggested.

"Shut up," Brooke said lowly.

"What? I could bring up plenty for her."

"Not helping," Brooke hissed. Laelaps barked playfully and licked Abby's shin.

"I think it likes you," Nick guessed. Laelaps rolled over on his back and started pawing at the air with his tail sweeping over the ground.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," Brooke said sarcastically.

"Actually, I think it's kind of cute," Abby smiled, leaning down to pet the dog.

"Are you kidding me?" I blurted. "He looks more like some flea-bit mongrel if you ask me." Laelaps jumped up and started growling again.

"No he's not," Abby insisted, wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on his. "He just needs a good bath and someone who loves him."

"You're too kind," Brooke muttered.

"Thanks."

"It wasn't meant as a compliment, sweetie."

"So, you tried insulting me…by saying I'm nice?"

"More like tried warning you. Let's get a move on. The monsters aren't going to just wait for us before destroying the camp."

"Can I bring Laelaps?" Abby pleaded. We all looked down at the dog that was now staring at us with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. A line of drool slowly dripped off the tip of its tongue. We all looked back to Brooke.

"If it doesn't attack us and doesn't slobber on me, I don't care," Brooke sighed.

"Yay!" Abby squealed, jumping up and hugging Brooke. "Thank you! Thank you! Come on Laelaps!" With that, she raced off down the tunnel. We all stood there for a minute before she came back with a sheepish smile. "Are you guys ready?"

"Lead on," Nick smiled.

We spent who knows how long wandering through the tunnels, and not a single monster attacked us. I was starting to think Kronos really wanted me to get to the camp A.S.A.P. Abby stopped and stared at a bare, brick wall in front of her.

"Here," she said confidently. "This is it."

"A wall?" I said skeptically.

"Search it," Brooke told us, stepping up to the bricks and running her hands over them. We all followed her example except for Abby, who stooped down and started playing with Laelaps's ears.

"Got it," Alex said, pushing his hand against the wall.

The wall cracked and split, chunks crumbling down until a faint like started shining through the holes, making the wall look like a slice of Swiss cheese. The wall fell apart in front of us. I saw a huge, green forest covered in massive trees with a sunrise about to begin in the background. And right in front of us, with weapons already drawn, were a dozen monsters.

"Oh crap," one of the boys whispered.

"Well done, Kryssstol," a snake-woman hissed. "Lord Kronosss will be pleasssed."

"What?" Brooke blurted. A javelin hurtled out of the bunch and zipped past Brooke's face, missing her by an inch and slamming into the wall behind us. "Attack!" she screamed. She, Nick, and Alex charged the monsters. I froze to the ground. This wasn't going how I'd wanted. Those monsters shouldn't have been there, unless he'd already started doubting me. Before I could snap out of my daze, one of the giants was shouting at me.

"Help us, titan princess! Bring down those you have brought for your father!" Alex stabbed him in the back before darting off to battle another.

In a few minutes the ground was covered in dirt and sand and the air was filled with bits of floating dust. The other three turned back to me, and boy did they look pissed. Gulping, I turned and ran into the forest, trying to remember what the map looked like. I caught sight of the huge cliff the camp backed up to. After five minutes, I finally made it to its base. I could hear the others trampling through the bushes after me. _Just a little further_ I told myself. _They should be around here somewhere._ I followed the cliff side for a couple hundred yards before I saw one: a cave carved into the rock wall.

Slipping and almost falling, I darted into the cave. The faint light in the cave showed what looked like a few tunnels leading off somewhere. I finally stopped, gasping for air. I heard someone's footsteps pounding on the ground behind me. I turned to see who it was, but ended up being shoved into the cave wall and felt a blade against my throat before I could see who it was. I opened my eyes slowly and saw Brooke holding me against the rocks. Okay, I know that Brooke can look downright freaky and absolutely terrifying if she wants to, but I'd never thought she could look like that. Saying she looked like she wanted to chop off my head and stick it on a pole doesn't even come close to being an understatement of how she looked. The boys, having kept with Abby, jogged into the cave, and even though they were generally more laid back than Brooke, I still didn't want to get caught in fight with them. They really didn't look any more appealing than Brooke at the moment.

"What were they talking about?" she spat in my face.

"N-nothing," I whimpered. "I don't know what they were thinking when they said all that stuff." Her knife dug deeper.

"If you lie, I swear, I will make sure you never say another thing in your life, in this round or the after. Now what were they talking about?"

"Brooke-."

"Answer me, Lore! Why were they calling you a princess? Why would Kronos be pleased and why'd that giant say you'd brought us for your father?"

"Please, just-."

"Quit begging and just answer the questions! What, in the name of the gods, were they saying to you? What've you been doing?"

"Brooke!" Surprisingly, it was Abby who had shouted. With her head high, she stormed right up to Brooke and grabbed her sword arm. "Let her go."

"Abby, she's a traitor. She lied to us the whole time and brought us here to hand over to her _daddy_. She deserves to die for everything she put us through."

"No, Brooke, please. You have to listen to me. Krystol isn't the enemy. It was all part of her plan."

My mind flashed back to what Abby had said in the alley, about how my part of my plan would work. I hadn't thought about it then, but now… How had she known about it? Better question: why hadn't she ratted me out already?

"What plan?" Brooke hissed.

"First, let her go Brooke," Abby insisted softly, tightening her grip on Brooke's arm. After a few minutes, Brooke finally let go of me. She backed up to where the boys were, pulling Abby with her, but kept her dagger pointed straight at me. "You'd better start talking, and fast, before I come to my senses and hurl this thing. And you've seen me throw a knife, so don't waste the time I'm giving."

I gulped and stared down at the point of her knife until she cleared her throat to catch my attention, narrowing her eyes expectantly.

I took in a breath. "Well…"

**Well, that's another one down and another step closer to utter chaos. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Oh, and about Lamia, she was kind of a mesh of a couple myths I found about her with a bit of my own imagination thrown in there. Anyway, I'll try to post soon again, but I've got midterms coming up, so no guarantees as to when I can update. Until then, I hope you guys are satisfied with this. See ya.**


	15. I Become a Psycho Leader

**Chapter 15: I Become a Psycho Leader**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO, I never will, blah, blah, blah. Now, on to the story so I can mess up Krystol's life even more.**

"Well…" I started, "can we start by putting down any weapons that could be used to kill me?" Brooke tightened her grip on the dagger, Nick pulled out his pen, and Alex started toying with the black ring on his finger that I'd figured out hid his sword. "No? Okay then, how do I explain this without dying?"

"Doesn't matter how, just explain," Brooke growled. Dang, this chick really wanted to kill me right now.

"Okay, well, uh, see, I made this deal with Kronos-."

"You did what?" Nick shouted.

"No! No, wait a second! Just wait! That's not what I meant!" I backed up to the cave wall away from them. "I-I mean that I _pretended_ to make a deal with him."

"And how do we know that you were pretending?" Brooke spat. "Those monsters were pretty convinced that you were on their side."

"Yes, as they yelled at you to help them kill us," Alex added.

"Will you shut up?" I snapped.

"Well, for all we know, you could be pretending again by saying that you pretended to make a deal with them," Nick put in.

"Or maybe she's pretending to even be a half-blood altogether," Alex said. We all turned to stare at him.

"Now that's just stupid," Abby said. "Okay, maybe I can help get us on track. Krys, start at the beginning, when you started making your plan."

"You planned all of this?" Brooke asked, her anger falling a little to curiosity. "How much of what we did did you plan out exactly?"

"Well, most of it was _because_ of my plan I think; I didn't actually plan most of it," I started quietly. "Remember on the train when you were telling me all of your crazy ideas? That's about when my plan started coming together, and the pieces fit together even better when I found out about Abby. I knew Kronos hated you guys, and then you said Abby had a chance at navigating the maze for us. Well, after that, I contacted him in a dream. I told him I'd been faking as your friend and had basically joined the quest for a free ticket to him and the monsters. I told him I wanted to help him destroy the gods. He said he was glad I joined him and just gave me command of his entire army, saying that he expected great things from me and didn't doubt my ability to do well. I told him that in return for command that I would trick all of you to let Abby come, get through the maze, and capture you when we got to the camp. I think that's why we weren't attacked by any of his goons until we got here, because he wanted me to get here faster. But it was all just a lie. I used it so I could get on his good side."

"It's not a bad plan actually," Nick admitted quietly. Brooke nodded her head in grudging agreement.

"Um, can I ask something?" Abby asked. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I thought that it would be easier to pass off being loyal to Kronos if you guys didn't know, that way you could go on acting like normal. And I was sure Brooke would've never let me do it." Brooke looked away for a second, which was proof to me that I was at least on the right track.

"Makes sense," Abby shrugged. "And what's the rest of your plan?"

"Wait, there's more to this craziness?" Alex burst.

"Um, yeah, I tried to plan out how to save the camp to, since that was the point of this whole thing," I answered. "See, what I wanted to do was get here and take over the whole operation and everything, being Kronos' daughter and all. Kronos wants me to figure out a way to get rid of all the half-bloods here, since they aren't telling the monsters anything. So, I was going to do that whole interview thing-."

"Interrogation," Brooke corrected softly, her eyes more like rock than daggers now.

"Right, interrogation. So, I was going to do that to all the half-bloods alone like the monsters did. I was going to tell the kids that I was with them, you were all here, and that we were gonna try to save the camp. After that, I was going to take them out of wherever we'd be at, tell the monsters that the kids are useless, and "get rid of" whoever I was talking to. Then I'd bring them back to wherever we decide to set up base."

"Well, it really isn't a bad plan at all," Nick decided after a few minutes. "It's psychotic and likely to end up with some of us dead, but not too bad in its basic use."

"And of course I can't kill you because you aren't lying, which just makes me look like an idiot for trying to," Brooke muttered.

"It's not stupid to try to protect those around you," I told her. "And how did you know that I wasn't lying?"

"Your eyes. I can see the fear in them, but they aren't even slightly shifty, and your voice wasn't quivering and you weren't twitching or anything. And you weren't answering too quickly or stalling for thinking time. Those are all normal signs of lying. So, you're either telling the truth or you're an awesome actress."

"Oh, well, thanks for not killing me."

"But it's still a stupid plan. The chances of the monsters leaving you alone with those kids are unlikely, and the chances of those kids trusting you are even lower. Once they think you're working for the titans, it's going to take a miracle to get them to think differently. And how exactly do you plan on getting those kids anywhere past those monsters without being questioned?"

"Well, I do have control of the army now. I could just order them to leave me alone."

"They'd still be suspicious."

"But they'd probably listen out of fear," Nick put in.

"It's still risky."

"Brooke, trust me on this one," I begged. "I know that's a lot to ask for right now, but you have to."

"I know we can, Brooke," Abby promised. "Krystol can make this work."

"What, can you see the future or something?" Brooke smirked.

"No, it's just a wild guess." Brooke sighed and put away her dagger.

"Fine, it's better than anything else we've got. When do you want to start?"

"Now," I answered. "Kronos is expecting me to show up any minute."

"Wait, are you still handing us over to him?" Alex asked quickly.

"Gods no, I'm not helping that son of a…" I stopped talking. _If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. _Mom's voice echoed in my head. _Even if it is about my slime ball of a dad_ I thought. "I'll think of some excuse."

"What are you going to do?" Brooke asked. "We need to figure out what's going on in this place and where their holding all the kids. We also need to know any strengths and weaknesses in the army and-."

"I know how to get most of that," I interrupted. "I'm going after Layne."

"Who?" the other three asked.

"Layne's one of the kids who helped our two get out of here," Brooke explained. "We're assuming he knows the camp really well."

"And I know for a fact that the monsters are keeping him away from the others, and they think he's important," I added. "If we can get him, we can get a huge edge."

"_If_ we can get to him, _if_ he trusts you enough,_ if_ you can get him past the monsters, _if_ he isn't crazy yet," Nick added. "That's a lot of if."

"Do you always have to point out the flaws in plans?" I grumbled.

"Just being realistic," he answered.

"It may be our only chance right now," Brooke said. "I…I think it's best if we at least give Krys a chance."

"Thank you," I nodded.

"Whatever. Now get a move on before we run out of time." I turned to leave, but stopped when Brooke called out to me. "And if you give me even the slightest reason to doubt your loyalty, I swear Lore, I will gut you like a fish and drop you in Tartarus to join your dad."

"Um, o-of course." _Thanks for the benefit of the doubt_ I thought.

Sighing, I marched through the woods, dodging a few pinecones and branches until I managed to find a field. The closest building to me was a three-story white and dark blue Victorian mansion. Scorch marks and gouges decorated the front porch and pillars, and most of the windows were busted. Farther away were a cluster of cabins designed like the ones back in New York. A huge workshop with smokestacks and a water wheel sat on the edge of a creek. An archery range smaller than ours sat about a quarter of a mile away from that. A small, closed theater sat back behind the mansion. At the far end of the woods, even further than the archery range, was an open field circled by large stones and dotted with dummies, trenches, small streams, trees, and rocks of all sizes.

"Do you like it?" someone growled. I whipped around with my hand flying to my wrist to see a sphinx almost twice as tall as me.

"Excuse me?" I tried to regain my composure. I remembered Kronos had said that he had a sphinx in charge, and if this was her, I didn't want to look weak. I couldn't lose control that fast.

"The camp," she sneered. "It truly is a great prize, though one would think the half-bloods would have put up more of a fight for their home. Too bad it will soon be destroyed."

"Yeah, but only on my orders," I replied, trying to gain the upper hand. Something told me that if I dared to let my guard down even a little, or turned my back for just a second, this psycho would turn me into confetti.

"What?"

"Surely you heard: Kronos has placed me in charge."

"Yes, I heard, though I still don't know why he would place a twelve-year-old who has shown no loyalty in charge of his army."

"Because I have been loyal. I had been forced to hide it so that I could join that stupid quest and make it here. Besides, you've shown your worth: having gathered no info, ordering monsters around that tried to kill me, nearly killing the only remaining half-blood who helped those two others escape."

"How did you know about that boy?"

"I may be a demititan, but I'm still a half-blood. I still dream, demon."

"Well, I think somebody is starting to learn quite a bit about her inheritance," she snarled.

"Yes, and I think somebody else needs to learn quite a bit about their place," I challenged.

She stared me down for a few seconds, and I could've sworn that she was going to kill me right there, but she finally stalked past me and said, "Come, the army has awaited your arrival." Taking a breath to calm myself, I followed her out to the cabin area.

The cabins were a complete mess. It was sad to just look at them, and I had absolutely no connection to them. I couldn't even imagine what the kids around here were thinking about their camp. _No remorse_ I reminded myself. _If you start thinking it, it'll show on your face, and the monsters will ask questions. No questions, complete control._

Most of the cabins had huge holes and burn marks. Planks of wood were falling off roofs, columns were split in half, and marble was shattered all around the cabin courtyard. Windows were broken and some doors were hanging on only one hinge or completely ripped off and thrown off to the side. Ripped up clothes, blankets, backpacks, and everything else someone would bring to summer camp were strewn across the area. Some cabins had even been burned to the ground and a few others were still smoldering.

"We were looking for any stores of weapons and other magical items," the sphinx explained.

"Well, how about you start asking me before destroying buildings," I snapped. "And if you do find any weapon stores, I want to know about it immediately, understood?"

"Of course…princess."

"Have you found any?"

"Nothing but what was in their forges and the sheds around it."

"What about the arena?"

"This camp is not entirely like the one in New York. Here, they have no arena. That field you were staring at, that is their training grounds."

"Oh." She smirked at me, and I felt my face grow hot. "And the archery grounds?"

"Arrows and bows are of little use to our army. We incinerated most of them in the camp's fire pit."

"You what?"

"They were useless."

"No, I decide what is useless in this place, got it? I make the decisions here, got it?"

"You little-."

"Let me make this clear: I. Am. In. Charge. I make the decisions in this place. I'm in control by Kronos' orders. You cross me, and I will end your miserable monster life, permanently. I don't care if you little monsters just disintegrate and come back to life. I will end you if you get in my way. Am I clear?"

"As clear as you, _Krystol_."

"Good. Now where's the army?"

"This way."

Just past the cabins were rows of hundreds of tents. Monsters roamed in and out of the lines. Some joked about the battle and the demigods. Others were fighting with one another until others separated them, but another fight started up for every one that was stopped. Some were even whipping and chasing pegasi that had their wings tied down. Most were busy sharpening weapons, shouting over food, or grunting in gibberish.

"No wonder Kronos wanted a new leader. You have no order in this place." The sphinx growled at me before letting out a piercing yowl. In two minutes, we were surrounded by about twenty or thirty monsters. There were telekhines, laistrygonians, hyperboreans, empousai, hellhounds, dracaenae, Cyclopes, harpies, manticores, and others that I couldn't name.

"These are the leaders of each clan or kind of monster in our ranks. They are to carry out your every order and be certain that their kind follow the orders as well. My fellow monsters, this is the titan princess."

"Isn't she a bit young to be leading an army?" a monster stated in a gravelly voice.

"Kronos doesn't think so," I replied, putting as much force into the words as I could. A few monsters even flinched. "He has chosen me to lead you all in the war against the gods. As commander, I expect complete compliance from every single one of you. I will tell you all exactly as I have told your sphinx friend here: if you cross me, I will destroy you. I expect every order to be carried out immediately and completely. If I find any defiance, any signs that anyone is rejecting my commands, I will have their essence eternally buried in the darkest depths of Tartarus. And as you are all responsible for your clans, I will not only have the offenders of my commands destroyed, but their leaders as well. So, if you would like to keep your own hides on your bodies, every word from my mouth will be followed, do you understand?"

"Control freak," I barely heard. I didn't even bother to turn to the voice, but held my head high and smiled something that I hoped looked threatening.

"Call me what you will, but this army has no discipline, no order. I find it a complete miracle that you managed to win this camp. But I have seen the gods, and the other half-bloods. If you really wish to destroy them, then you will need order and control. So, whether you agree with me or not, you will follow me, or follow in the footsteps of you last war and die at the hands of pathetic half-breeds."

The monsters were silent. Most had scowls on their faces. Others were looking at the ground. I walked forward, and they all moved out of my way. I came to the edge of the tent line. The army didn't even notice me. I had to catch their attention. It was time to take control and scare the crap out of these guys. Focusing and reaching desperately for the powers I'd used before, I stared at a sword sharpening block in front of me, and flicked my hand a little. The stone went flying, landing about twenty feet away on top of a dracaenae with a rumble that I was sure the others could hear in the woods. Every monster stopped what it was doing and stared at me, some in terror, others in shock.

"So this is my army?" I called, my voice ringing out over the crowd by some miracle. "I must say, you're quite pathetic. You don't even know how to show respect to your leader and pay attention when I show up. Well, we definitely have some work to do. I've already told each of your leaders what I expect from you, and I'm sure they can elaborate on what I will tell you. I expect order, loyalty, discipline, and compliance from all. If any of you so much as step one foot out of my excepted line, I will kill you. Are we clear? Good. Continue. We have a lot to do." I turned on my heel, hoping that I wasn't trembling or that my face hadn't fallen apart throughout all of that. I passed the leaders again.

"Join me, sphinx, we have a lot to talk about," I ordered.

"She will be good for this army," I heard one monster say as I walked past. "She is strong and expectant."

"Yes, much like our last leader," another added.

Then one more, in a hoarse whisper that I could barely hear, said, "Let us hope she is not another Luke."

The main room of the mansion was the same as I'd remembered it: sagging couches, ripped wallpaper, clawed chairs, and gouged floorboards. A few monsters were lounging on the furniture with their weapons thrown against the back wall.

"-can't kill all the little brats now," one was complaining. "It'd be easier and we'd be outta here in no time."

"You wanna cross Kronos and his little princess?" another asked.

"Well-."

"I hope you choose the right answer to that question," I spoke quietly. I swear those monsters must have jumped at least three feet off the couch.

"You should know by now," I continued, "that Kronos' "little princess" has arrived and doesn't enjoy taking crap from monsters or having her wishes defied."

"Hey, how'd that brat get outta the prisons?" the first one asked.

"I don't know," the other answered. "Lemme put 'er back with the others." A Cyclops about eight feet tall got up and stormed towards me, reaching out to grab me. When he was in range, I pulled out my sword and stabbed him straight through his gut.

"Y-you…you…how…," he gasped.

"I warned you," I whispered. "I don't take crap from monsters." He fell apart in a pile of sand that slowly blew away. "Would any others care to challenge me?" The others shook their heads. "Good, now to real business. How many half-bloods are left?"

"Thirty-seven," the sphinx hissed at me.

"Thirty-seven? Well, you all certainly take forever to kill demigods, don't you?"

"Would you like us to finish them off now, princess?" a giant asked me.

"Of course not you moron! If I wanted that, then I would have said it."

"But-."

"Silence! I've heard enough idiocy out of your mouth. Where are they?"

"Most are in the basement. A few have been isolated into locked and guarded rooms," the sphinx answered.

"And that boy is really the only one left who helped those two?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I want to speak to him now. If he can manage to get those two past every monster in this place, then he must know the grounds well."

"We have tried to question him already, along with many means to tempt him to talk."

"Such as…?"

"Starvation, depriving him of water and human contact, torture, just a few of the basic things."

"I want to talk to him."

"I've already told you, he refuses to speak."

"And I've already told you, I want to talk to him," I repeated. The sphinx growled deep in her throat. After a minute, she looked to one of the monsters, a telekhine, and nodded to him. The demon scrabbled up from his seat in a chair and rushed to my side.

"Come, princess, I will take you to the boy," he said in a whiny, high voice. The demon took me up a staircase and down a hall to the last room. The door was smudged with slime and soot, and an arrow was stuck in the middle of it.

"He's in here?" I asked. The telekhine nodded. "Don't interrupt me until I come out." I took a key that was hanging on the door knob, unlocked it, and stepped in.

The room was even sadder than the cabin yard. It was maybe ten or twelve feet all around and smelt like monster slime tossed into a dumpster that was shoved into a New York river. A thin, ripped blanket sat in the corner, covered in stains that looked a lot like blood. A Styrofoam plate sat next to the door with a piece of moldy bread smaller than the palm of my hand. The lights had apparently been ripped out of the walls given the holes in the plaster with wires sticking out of them. The only light came from the cracks between the boards nailed over the window.

"Who are you?" someone whispered hoarsely.

I turned my head to find the kid, Layne, scrunched up in a corner. His wrists were tied together with a piece of rope. One of his eyes was swollen and bruised. Scratches dotted his face and arms. I could just make out a dark stain on his left shoulder in the light, and another running the length of his right calf, and he still had the gashes in his arm where the sphinx had swatted him. His blonde hair was matted and limp. His eyes were like dull bruises against his pale, sunken face.

"Layne," I whispered, feeling a grin stretch across my mouth. He struggled to stand up, then limped over to me slowly.

"Do I know you?"

"No, but I've heard about you."

"How did you get in here? I thought the monsters had all the others locked up. Unless…you're working for them, aren't you?"

"Well, you see-."

"You betrayed us all for them? Gods, I can't believe it. Somebody is actually so selfish they'd save their own hide by condemning the rest of us. Good for you. I hope you lead a short miserable life alongside those titan creeps."

"Okay, hold on a second, I'm not really working for them. I'm-." I stopped when I heard footsteps thundering down the hall.

"Princess?" a deep voice called, and the door handle jiggled. Acting on impulse, I slapped Layne as hard as I could across the face. He shouted in pain and hit the floor.

"Answer me, you worthless worm!" I screamed at him just as the door swung open. I turned on the giant framed in the doorway. "What do you want?"

"I only wanted to notify you, princess. A small pack of Greek fire was found in the bathrooms."

"Well, good for you. And what did you do with it?"

"It was placed in one of the sheds by the forges."

"Good, now get out of my sight. Don't interrupt me again."

"But what if we find-?"

"Get out!" I flung my hand at him and accidently sent him flying through the door behind him and into the far wall of the room. I stumbled a little from the power, but stood up straight again and tried to regain control. "A-And don't interrupt me until I'm finished with this brat! You may want to pass that on to the others before they get something worse than your treatment."

The giant peeled itself off the wall and stumbled back into the hall, managing to close the door to our room before heading back downstairs. When I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, I turned back to Layne.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry," I apologized, crouching down in front of him. "Are you okay? I swear, I really didn't mean to do that."

"You're a bit crazy with the mood swings, aren't you?" he said, rubbing his cheek that was already starting to turn bluish-purple. "Man, and I thought the punches those monsters were dealing hurt. I didn't know it was even possible to slap somebody so hard that they could start seeing in double vision."

"Did I really hit you that hard?"

"We'll put it this way: I think you dislocated my jaw or something."

"Oh man, look I…I really didn't mean to hit you that hard. I was just trying to pass myself off. You see, if I get caught, I'm toast."

"Why, you're on their side and apparently in charge to some degree."

"Yeah, that's what they think."

"What?"

"Well, I'm currently attempting to trick the monsters into thinking I'm on their side, and it's actually working right now. I've actually gained control of the army."

"Okay, wait, who are you to begin with?"

"Oh, I'm Krystol Lore. I'm from the other camp. I'm on a quest with three others to help you guys."

"Really? You guys found out what was going on?"

"Well, sort of…"

"Did Jordan and Lauren make it back?"

"Well, Lauren did. She gave us the info she could remember. Jordan, he uh…"

"He's gone, isn't he?" I nodded. Layne pursed his lips and glanced around the room. "Well, at least we could get them out of here. And I'm sure he went down like a real hero. Oh, and who did you say you were?"

"Krystol Lore."

"Never heard of you. Who's your parent?"

"Um, Kronos."

"You're kidding right?"

"No, but I wish I was." Layne started scooting away from me with terror in his face. "Whoa, whoa, hold on a second. I said I'm tricking the monsters here. I'm not really on their side, just acting like it. Besides, I hate those creeps, especially my dad. Given the way my mom acted, I figured he's a first-class jerk who only cares about power and revenge. He claimed me and left me at the mercy of the gods, then said some crap about how I was supposed to just like him and help bring him back to the living world. As of right now, he thinks I'm his top servant and that I'm going to destroy both camps, all the demigods in them, and eventually help raise him so he can have revenge on the gods and take over the world."

"And are you?"

"Gods, no. I'm pretty sure I already said that I hate the guy."

"Okay, I'm kind of confused at this point."

"Yeah, I can tell by the look on your face. And I know you probably hate me right now and would probably like to drop kick me across California, but I need you to trust me. If you want to live, you have to. I can get you out of this place, and the others, and we can take back the camp, but you have to trust me."

Layne sat on the floor for nearly ten minutes, sometimes moving his lips like he was talking to himself and shaking his head. Finally, he looked up at me.

"Fine," he mumbled, sounding like he was already regretting his choice.

"Okay, but I need you to go along with everything I say. You can't challenge me at all. Otherwise, we're both dead. Just play along and act scared, okay?"

"Alright, just don't overdo it, _princess_." Groaning, he rolled over and stood up. "Lead the way."

"Just remember, whatever I do or say, isn't real, okay?"

"Whatever. Just get me out of here and I might trust you."

I opened the door and let Layne out first. At the top of the stairs, we nodded at each other, and I started yelling.

"Move it, demigod!" I screamed, pushing him towards the stairs. He tripped and stumbled down a few steps, almost falling flat on his face. He glanced back and glared at me for a second before going down to the first floor.

"What is this?" the sphinx howled when she saw us.

"Well," I started, trying to sound like I actually knew what I was doing, "I would be the person you listen to, and this would be the worthless human that you tried to kill."

"I understand that," she growled, and I could tell she was trying to keep from bringing out her little kitty claws. "I meant, what are you doing and why is he down here?"

"That's really none of your concern, now is it?" I grabbed Layne by the sleeve and shoving him towards the door and trying to avoid any other questions.

"Actually, I believe it is, _child_," she hissed, jumping in front of me. _Keep cool_ I thought. _As much as she is pissing you off, you can't just kill her the first day you show up. You've already chucked a giant at a wall. You need these guys to trust you._

"Well, if you're so curious, I guess I'll tell you. See, I'm going to do what you are incapable of: my job. I was sent here to take over the army and finish off the half-bloods that were left alive under your command. I already have the army, so it's time to move on. Like you said, this one refuses to talk. _Unlike _you, I will actually do what needs to be done and kill the brat already."

"But-."

"What? If the half-blood isn't of use to us and shows no signs of being so, our job is to get rid of him. Isn't that what you did to all the others?"

"Yes, however-."

"The boy is meaningless to us. Therefore I will actually follow orders and kill him. Now step aside and quit questioning me, unless-."

"Unless I would like to spend eternity in Tartarus, I know," she finished with a snarl.

"Aw, look who's finally catching on to things," I mocked before pushing Layne. "And I don't want anybody following me, understand?"

"Dang, you've really got these guys eating out of your hands, don't you?" Layne said once we were outside.

"Shut up," I whispered. "We can't talk here, too close to the monsters."

We trudged through camp, getting strange looks from the monsters. A few times when the monsters would start walking towards us or open their mouths, I'd shout out an insult or give Layne another shove. I was just glad that all he did was huff and glare or shake his head instead of turning on me.

"So, are you done being the evil little princess?" Layne asked after walking about a hundred feet into the woods. I looked around me to make sure we hadn't been followed. "You don't need to check, we weren't followed."

"How do you know?"

"I've been watching the whole time. You learn to keep an eye out if you want to survive in a place like this."

"Oh, well, I was busy trying to not look scared or like an enemy."

"Well, I think they bought it. Now can you cut me loose?" I pulled my sword out and sliced through the ropes around his wrists. "Thanks, and where'd you pick up _that_?"

"At camp, the first day I went into the arena. Why?"

"I don't know. I just… Have you ever gotten that feeling where you know there's, like, a past or something…not right behind an object? You know, like when you just touch something, or even look at it, you get that feeling that tells you to get away? That's what I'm talking about."

"And…what? That's the feeling you got from my sword?"

"Well, kind of."

"Eh, you're not the first to act weird around it." I trudged off into the woods.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"That cliff the camp backs up to, one of the caves."

"You're going the wrong way then."

"Um…I knew that." I turned to the right and started going that way.

"Wrong way," Layne called. Huffing, I stalked up to him.

"Then you lead, mister know-it-all."

"Fine by me. This way."

We headed off at an angle into the woods, moving pretty fast, at least faster than you would've expected a starved, beaten kid to be able to move. After ten minutes, Layne stopped dead in his tracks and turned his head.

"Did you hear that?" he asked softly.

I was about to call him crazy when a twig snapped behind us. On impulse, I snapped out my discus and threw it, catching a manticore that had been coming out of the bushes right in the face. The monster let out a pained wail just as four hellhounds leapt out from behind some trees.

"Run!" Layne shouted. We bolted farther into the woods. I called my discus back, and, with satisfaction, heard a monster howl before a faint poof sound went off. I was about to ask if we should hide when three of the hounds jumped in front of us. Layne skidded to a halt and stared straight at one of the dogs. I saw his eyes flash for a second and the dog fell into a quivering heap, like it was having a seizure or something. The other two launched themselves at us, but vines snapped them up out of nowhere and tossed them against some boulders, turning them to dust.

"Did you…?" I trailed, gaping at the piles of dead monsters.

"Yeah."

"How?"

"My dad. You never asked who he was. And before you do, he's Dionysus." Layne took off running without even explaining that to me, but since I didn't want to get lost, I took off after him. We managed to reach the tree line before the manticore jumped out in front of us. He also now had a nice, giant crack in his face that sand was trickling out of.

"Didn't I kill you already?" I shouted. "And what's up with your face?"

"You didn't hit it hard enough," Layne breathed.

"Traitor!" the manticore screamed, throwing itself at me. Screaming, I rolled to the side, feeling the air move right above me as the manticore barely missed my head.

I jumped up and readied the sword still in my hand. Turning, the manticore jumped again. I swung out, and missed it by an inch as Layne snapped out some vines around its neck and dragged it away from me.

"Back off, fur ball!" he shouted. Roaring, the monster turned on Layne and got ready to pounce. I pulled out my discus and threw it, hoping to hit it before it got Layne. The manticore wailed in agony as the discus cut clean through its back leg. It collapsed and slowly fell apart into sand.

"Thanks," we both said.

"That way," I pointed down the rock wall, finally figuring out where I was.

"Let's go, before something else catches us," Layne said. We sprinted all the way to the cave. I got ready to turn in when Brooke came out, her head turned towards the cave as she talked to somebody. Unable to stop, I slammed into her and we both went tumbling until we fell into a mud pit.

"Oh, gross!" I yelled.

"Krystol!" Brooke screamed in my ear.

"Sorry."

"Hey, you guys okay?" Nick asked, racing out of the cave with Alex and Abby.

"Yeah, fine," Brooke snapped, standing up and wiping mud off her arms.

"Nice job, Krystol," Layne smiled.

"Oh shut up," I growled. "I just saved your butt, so lay off on the sarcasm."

"So," Alex turned around, "you're Layne?"

"Yeah, how do you know me?"

"Krystol said she was gonna look for you before she left."

"Oh. You know," Layne looked to me, "you still didn't really say how you knew about me."

"A dream and Lauren," I answered shortly, crawling out of the mud.

"Okay, let's get back in here, before something shows up and blows our cover," Brooke said, stalking into the cave. We followed her in. There was now a small fire at the back off the cave and all of our sleeping bags were rolled out. All of our food and water was shoved up against the wall next to the sleeping bags, along with a med kit that I didn't even know we had. The papers from the Stolls were spread out on the other side of the cave.

"Home sweet home," I mumbled sitting down next to the fire.

"So, who are you guys?" Layne asked.

"Brooke Jackson."

"Nick Jackson, and before you ask, yes, we're the actual Jackson children, daughter and son to the great, and slightly crazy in my opinion, demigods Percy and Annabeth," Nick reeled it off like he was used to saying it to every half-blood he met.

"I'm Alex DiAngelo, son of the lesser known Nico and Tanya DiAngelo."

"Lesser known?" Layne raised an eyebrow. "Kid, your dad raised the army that evened the odds and saved the half-bloods in the last war."

"True," Alex nodded.

"And I'm Abby. I'm not a half-blood, but I can see through the Mist. I got them through the maze."

"Nice," Layne smiled, high-fiving Abby. "So, you guys were sent to save our camp, huh? Aren't you a bit young for that?"

"Dude, don't even start on the age concept," Nick said.

"Uh, okay. So, what's your plan?" We all glanced around at each other. "Wait, you guys don't have a plan?"

"Um, no, not really," Brooke admitted.

"But you two are related to Athena. Shouldn't you be able to come up with something?"

"Yeah, see it's really not as easy as just telling your mind to think and having it work," Nick said.

"Oh, well that kind of sucks."

"Well," I started, "walking around out there, my mind started going again, and I think I might have a few ideas that could actually manage to work."

"Ideas for what?" Alex asked.

"How to get the others out, and how to arm them, too."

"Alright, we're listening," Brooke grinned.

**And I'm gonna cut it off again. Why? Because I find it entertaining to leave people at cliffhangers, even if they aren't good cliffhangers. And now you guys don't have to listen to evil Krystol (well, as much anyway (even though I doubt that I actually made anyone think she was evil)). Anyway, I'm on break until next Thursday, so you guys can probably expect another chapter soon (no guarantees though). Thank you to everyone that's managed to put up with my slowness (in terms of updating and story building) and for reading this thing. R&R please (if you have time and feel like it really). Until the next update, peace out people. Oh, and make sure you don't eat so much junk food over New Year's that you puke, because that bad…and quite disgusting. See ya.**


	16. My Job Sucks

**Chapter 16: My Job Sucks**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Yes, sucky chapter title, but I was brain-dead and ready to post and needed a name really quick.**

I stormed back through the woods, my shoes squishing underneath me with every step. Brooke's solution to getting the mud off of me so I wouldn't catch any attention from the monsters was to douse me in water. Honestly though, I don't know which would be more suspicious: being covered in mud, or being soaked to the bone. Oh well, it was time for me to follow my most recent motto: it's too late to turn back now.

I came back out into the camp clearing, still wringing water from my hair, and caught sight of the sphinx padding towards me.

"Great," I muttered, "it's the wonderful, fluffy she-devil."

"Princess, I was beginning to worry," she mocked.

"Whatever." I pushed past her and made my way toward the mansion.

"May I ask what took you so long? And why are you wet?"

"The idiot decided to talk when I took him to the woods."

"And?"

"He told me some stuff, then I killed him. And I'm wet because a few dryads decided to shove me into a creek."

"Would you like me to send a portion of the army into the woods after the spirits?"

"No, the nymphs aren't worth wasting the army's time or energy on. We'll take care of the forest when we burn this place to the ground."

"As you wish. What would you like done now?"

"I need to find a girl."

"Well, we have plenty in the basement, but wouldn't you like to see your army, or perhaps you would like to take a tour of the camp? Would you like to take a nap? You must be tired from your journey."

"No. There's no need to waste time. It's better to just finish this job and move on."

"Fine. Would you like me to bring you one of the half-blood girls?"

"No, I know which one I want. I need a girl by the name of Fay Keldrin. She should be an Athenian."

"Where did you hear that name, in another dream perhaps?"

"No, I got it from your prisoner actually."

"That boy went weeks without telling us anything. How is it that, within a few hours, you managed to convince the boy to tell you even a scrap of information?"

I shrugged. "Maybe I'm special. Or maybe I'm actually effective."

"You-."

"Where is she?"

"She was isolated from the others."

"Why?"

"She seemed quite intelligent, and she was annoying the basement guards."

"Yes, those are wonderful reasons to isolate somebody, aren't they?"

"Well-."

"Just show me where she is." I pushed open the double doors and walked into the mansion, making about five or six monsters flinch and jump to their feet before kneeling. Those who didn't were pulled off the couches and chairs in seconds and shoved onto their knees. "Hm, you're finally learning respect." I heard the sphinx growl behind me.

"Come, child. The girl is this way." She led me back up the staircase and turned down the hall again. Halfway down the hallway, we stopped at another burned door. "In here."

"Thanks."

"Would you like me to come in?"

"No thank you. I don't need a babysitter who would stab me in the back the second I turned around. Go back downstairs, and try to learn a little more about your place in _my_ army, okay?"

With a hiss, the sphinx stalked down the hall and turned down the stairs. I took a breath and turned back to the door. _Don't mess with her_ Layne had said. _Don't sneak up on her and don't try anything stupid. She's well-trained, she's smart, and she's tricky. And be careful with what you say. She's good with words, and, no matter how good and nice she is, she'll twist what you say until she's got you admitting that you're a traitor, or anything else that she makes you feel like saying. _I unlocked the door and walked in.

"Fay?" I called, stepping halfway into the room. One thing was certain: it was definitely a couple steps ahead of Layne's. There was an old, torn mattress with stuffing coming out of it in a corner. Half a blanket was balled up on top of the mattress. One of the boards covering the window had been picked at enough that there was a good-sized peep hole in it that gave anyone a nice look over the valley. There was even a light bulb dangling from the ceiling. I heard the door squeak and close behind me. I turned to find a tall girl with golden-blond hair, sparkling gray eyes, and a defiant, pretty face covered with a smirk.

"You really need to work on looking around before walking into a random room," she said coolly.

"So, you must be Fay," I said, trying to smile. I reached my hand out toward her. "I'm Krystol. I'm-." She grabbed my wrist, pulled me in, then shoved me back into the far wall. With a shout, I hit the floor.

"What the Hades was that for?" I screamed. She shrugged, before walking over and sitting on the bed. "Gods that hurt."

"Quit whining," she said, shaking her head.

"You just chucked me into a freaking wall, and you want me to not yell at you or complain? Are you crazy?"

"So, are you the titans' new little pet?" she asked, ignoring my questions and getting up to walk around the room.

"No, why would you think that?"

"You're free, you've only got a few minor scratches, I saw you walking and talking with monsters outside, and you just generally look and act evil."

"How do I seem evil exactly?"

"Like I said, you were hanging out with monsters, and you just seem evil to me."

"I was just holding out my hand to shake yours! It was a simple gesture of friendliness!"

"Or possibly a simple trick used by any enemy to gain trust." I looked at her in absolute disbelief. "I'm not an idiot, girlie."

"I didn't say you were. And I'm not working for the titans, nor am I evil."

"Give me proof then."

"What exactly do you want as proof?"

"Let's start with this: why don't you work for the titans?"

"Because they're evil, duh."

"Okay, and what do you define as being evil?"

"Well, to put it simply, the titans. That's kind of why I don't work for them."

"Be just a bit more specific, okay sweetie?"

"Um, I don't know. Evil is somebody who kills or hurts without mercy and reason. They trick those who trust them. They do absolutely anything to cover their own butts and to get themselves where they want to be in life."

"And you haven't done any of that crap?" she interrupted, staring at me with an empty expression.

"No, I haven't."

"You never hurt anyone or anything unless you were defending yourself or others?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped. I _had_ done just that. My mind flashed back to the giant in the maze, the dracaenae in the field, the Cyclops in the front room, even Layne. I didn't need to kill them or hurt them. I did it for attention and cover-ups.

"Gotcha, didn't I?" Fay smirked.

"They…they were monsters," I insisted, trying not to let out any more info, especially about Layne. My gut told me that if she heard that I did anything to that kid, well, she wouldn't need a weapon to kill me.

"So? You only said someone evil will kill without reason, you never said there were specifics on who they would kill. And why should there be? Killing is killing, no matter who or what you do it to."

"But-."

"And I'm sure you're tricking _somebody_. I mean, you say that you're not working for the titans, but every single one of these monsters is apparently following you because they think you're on their side, unless, of course, you really are on their side. In that case, that would mean you're tricking whoever else came with you and anyone else who trusts you on our side. So either way, you're tricking an entire side of this war that trusts you. And I don't doubt that you've done some unnecessary stuff to cover your trail and keep some of your little secrets safe. Am I right?"

"Well…"

"Knew it. So, in my mind, yes, you are evil."

"No I'm not!"

"According to your own definition, you are."

"But…no, I'm…ugh!" Fay chuckled and shook her head at me.

"So which is it-?"

"I'm not evil!"

"I wasn't going to ask that."

"Well, you seem pretty tied up with the fact that you think I'm out to destroy the world through my evil, demonic ways."

"Oh, that? I was just messing with your head. Thanks for playing by the way. And it's fine. Everybody has a little evil in them, even the most golden of heroes have done some bad things. Some were downright wicked to those around them. It's just a matter if you can stay in control of it or not. Some can, some can't. I'm sure the world will figure you out sooner or later. Now, if you don't mind, I want to get back to the real question. Do you really work for the titans, or are you with us?" Maybe I was just imagining it, but it almost sounded like there was a little fear in her voice at the end.

"I fight for what's right and what's good in the world."

"And what do you consider good?"

"Definitely not the titans."

"Hm, that's different. Most people on our side would've said "definitely the gods", or something like it. Why do you say yours?"

"A friend basically told me once that the gods aren't perfect, nowhere near it, actually. And sometimes, they're completely horrible and barbaric. But, from what I know, what I've heard and seen, the gods, no matter how terrible, will always be a world better than the titans."

"Hm, keep saying that stuff. You might just get people to trust you."

"Do you?"

"Maybe, I still haven't decided. For all I know, you're just one heck of an actress."

I sighed as she turned away from me. There was only one thing else I could think of. Layne had told me something that he said would win Fay over without question, but he said it was sensitive and to only use it if I had to. Well, hello desperation.

"Layne told me why you weren't in on the plan."

"What?" she asked, turning back to me with a startled expression.

"When Lauren and Jordan were escaping, you wanted to help. Layne wouldn't let you."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Layne said that you wanted to help Lauren and Jordan get out of here, but he didn't want you involved any more than you were."

"I wasn't involved at all."

"That's what you guys _want_ everyone to believe. He said that a lot of people wanted to help, but no one knew how. Layne knew the camp well enough to get them around, but the actual plan wasn't his. You came up with the plan. You figured out how to get past the monsters, how to get the others to the borders. But Layne wouldn't let you come. He thought you were too valuable. You were the only one in camp smart enough, calm enough, and daring enough to come up with a way to fight the monsters. Layne didn't want to risk your life, so he made you stay here and told all the others that he came up with the plan. He didn't want the monsters finding out about you and risk losing the best strategist in the camp. He thought that if anything happened when he was getting those two out, well, he figured that if you were still around that he'd be leaving the camp in good hands."

She stared at the floor for a few minutes before glancing up at me. "Layne told you that?"

"Yeah. Do you trust me now?"

"He wouldn't tell anybody he didn't trust. We swore to each other that we'd keep it a secret from everyone else. We thought we'd be able to keep them safer if they weren't harboring that kind of info."

"So…?"

"It looks like I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"I guess not."

"Where is Layne?"

"Safe. He's in the woods. I can get you out of here, too. We can save the camp, believe me. You're just gonna have to go along with everything I say and do until we're away from monsters. Think you can handle that?"

"I'm an Athenian. I think I can handle anything you've got, kid," she smirked.

* * *

"Did you really have to shove me into a wall?" Fay growled as she stalked through the woods behind me.

"Hey, you said you could handle anything I had," I smirked.

"That doesn't mean you had to scream at the top of your lungs, tie up my hands, and throw me face first into a solid wall."

"Get over it. At least you're out of there."

"Whatever. Hey, do you have any food or water? I haven't eaten for two days and the last drink I had was last night."

"There's some stuff back in the cave we're hiding in."

"You guys are using the caves? That's pretty smart actually. The monsters never really explored the woods. I don't think they even know about the caves. Man, I hope you got one of the deep ones, or an extensive system. We could fit more kids in like that."

"Um, no idea. I haven't really explored. I've been busy trying to keep monsters from destroying this place and killing you guys."

We stepped out of the woods and followed the cliff again. We reached the cave and I let out a sharp whistle.

"Gods, Krys!" someone shouted. All four of them walked out of cave.

"Did you really have to pull out the New York whistle?" Alex whined.

"Quit whining," I said.

"Fay?" Layne said, moving through the others towards her.

"Layne!" Fay exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips.

"Whoa, hold on a second, what's up with the smooch fest?" Brooke interrupted.

"Oh, uh, maybe I should've mentioned that she's my girlfriend?" Layne shrugged sheepishly.

"Wait a second, I know you did not just send me on a mission to save your little love life," I snapped.

"Of course not!"

"No, Layne wouldn't do that," Fay insisted. "Doesn't matter if we like each other or not, we've made it clear that the campers come first."

"What a nice relationship," Brooke said sarcastically.

"Well, it started like a week before all of those attacks, so we kind of decided on that at the moment," Layne explained. "I think you should be going, Krystol."

"Why?"

"Oh, we probably should've told you," Brooke said. "You're staying the night with the monsters."

"What?" I screamed.

"We need to make sure you stay on the good side of the monsters, and that means you have to limit any suspicious activity."

"So that requires me staying with them?"

"Get over it," Fay said.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate your ideas sometimes?" I asked Brooke.

"Probably, now get going," she said, giving me a little shove.

* * *

"I hope thisss will be a comfortable room for you," the dracaenae hissed as she opened up a door to a bedroom in the mansion. There was a small bed shoved into a corner with a lamp sitting on a short dresser next to it. A dull quilt was laying on the bed and sun-bleached curtains hung from the window. There were still a few gouges in the walls, making it easy to figure that the monsters had thrown this together as fast as they could.

"It'll do," I said, trying to sound disappointed and snobby. "Now go away." Bowing slightly, she slithered away.

I sat on the bed and kicked off my shoes. "You guys owe me big time for being here." I laid back on the bed and tried to sort through the last few hours, and eventually fell asleep.

_Well done, Krystol. _Tartarus swam into my vision, and I knew Kronos wanted another chat.

_Thank you, father._

_Has the army been following your orders?_

_For the most part. Although I have to admit, they aren't very well disciplined._

_They are barbarians. They stand as a good fighting force, but not much else._

_Well, that's definitely true._

_Now, what about your promise? Do we have the others?_

_Well, uh…_

_What happened?_

_Well, they aren't here. _The cavern shook with the sound of Kronos' roar.

_You let them go!_

_No! I swear I didn't let them go. They…they're dead._

_What are you talking about?_

_We…we used the labyrinth to get here. Before we got through, there was a cave in. I couldn't find them, and they didn't answer when I shouted for them._

_They could still escape from the maze. The mortal can see._

_Jackson didn't let her come. They have no one to see them through if they survived. They are bound to die._

_Pray that they do, girl._

_Can I ask something?_

_What?_

_Well, it's something I haven't figured out and nobody else has offered up an explanation. It's my sword. All the demigods that I've seen react to it have reacted almost like they're…afraid of it._

_As they should be._

_Why?_

_It is evil, a cursed blade, at least to the demigods._

_Um, a better explanation would be nice, just saying._

_You will not speak to me like that. You will deliver the same respect to me that the army gives you._

_That's not much._

_Enough!_

_Sorry, I was just looking for answers._

_The sword has a long history. The last time it was wielded was fifteen years ago, on Mount Olympus itself. The blade was thrown into the Olympian hearth in a battle. From there, it melted and seeped through the mountain's layers until it reached the celestial mines. From there, it was mined and forged into a sword, with every ounce of the former weapon being concentrated into it._

_But why do the demigods hate it?_

_That is a very simple answer, child. The original blade was mine. And that is the very reason that you wanted it the moment you touched it._

No. That was all I could think. That would have meant that I was actually connected to him, that I was like him.

_Yes child, you are like me _he said, reading my mind somehow. _Have you not noticed all the ways in which you are like me? Your name, for instance. Have you ever known any other to have the spelling of your name? Look at it, Krystol, and you will see how it relates to mine. Your powers to freeze time, to always know what the time is, to see so much of history, which is simply the world's timeline, are all gifts from me. Your hair is as black as oblivion, as is mine in my own form. The gold of your eyes is mine, the black and purple being my associated colors. You are very much connected to me, whether you wish to see it or not._

_Mom always said she loved the sound of my name, until you found out what she wanted to name me. She still says that she loves the sound of it, but that she hates you for how you made it._

_Your mother and I lost what connection we had after you were born. She didn't want me anywhere near you. But I knew you would be valuable to me and, so long as you were able to decide, you would eventually do what your mother refused to and come to me._

_Why did you choose her?_

_She was pretty and intelligent. But she was like others at her age. She was young and wanted a boy to like her, and she feared being an outcast. She was easy to get to, easy to manipulate. When her parents found out she was pregnant, they threw her out on her own. I promised her the world and more, and she stayed with me until after your birth. From there, she grew attached to you and lost interest in me. I didn't want her to take you so that I could never have you again, so I placed you both in a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Time for you was slowed down for three years until a friend helped Katrina to escape. From there, she moved to New York in hopes that the gods would not think to find a demtitan under their own noses._

_So you used my mom to get another servant._

_I wanted an heir, yes, should anything have gone wrong and I should require help. And now that I have finally found an heir, we have only a short time to wait before we titans rise and claim the world. Now go into the world, and continue your assignment. I expect the camp's population to drastically decrease in less than five days._

_Yes…father.  
_

My eyes snapped open. Early morning light streamed through the window.

"Easy to manipulate, huh?' I muttered to myself. "You brought me around just for service, did you? You think it's right to lock us in a stupid hotel for three years? I'll show you, _scum_. I don't take crap from anyone, least of all you. You want the population around here to fall? Well, I'll make sure it happens."

I hauled myself out of bed, changed into some of the clothes the monsters had tossed in the dresser. I pulled out my sword and stared at it, seeing my reflection in the cold, hard metal.

"It may have been yours, but it's mine now. I decide who I am. You better watch out, _daddy_. This little princess isn't about to be your heir."

**And…scene. Don't ask me why I said that, I just felt like it. Anyway, I realize this is **_**way**_** shorter than my other chapters, and, honestly, not my best. I wasn't exactly planning on this one being significant, so I thought I'd tie up what seemed like some loose ends to me. That and I kind of needed to throw Fay in somewhere. So, I hope you still liked it, and next chapter should be much more entertaining. And sorry, this took me longer to do than I'd hoped for, but hey, better late than never, right?**


	17. My Advisor is a Horse

**Chapter 17: My Advisor is a Horse**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

I stormed through the camp, reluctantly following the sphinx around. She was describing the battle for the camp and everything they'd found since taking over, but I wasn't really listening. I was too busy letting my anger brew into whatever revenge I could think of. I glanced up in time to walk face first into a shed wall.

"Ow!" I yelped, holding my throbbing nose.

"Well done, princess," the sphinx sniggered.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I thought any _good_ leader would be ever watchful and vigilant of what is around them." Forcing down a growl, I swung open the shed door and walked in. Against the walls were crates full of daggers and short swords that were stacked about three feet high. There must have been almost a hundred weapons in this shed alone. "Where did they get so many?"

"Most of them are old and damaged, some are beyond use. We found these stacked in here already. Some other sheds are the same," the sphinx explained.

"Where are the useful weapons?"

"They are in other sheds. Why?"

"I want a few monsters to start moving them to the labyrinth entrance."

"Are you out of your mind? What good would that do?"

"When we leave here, we won't have to waste time searching for good weapons. They'll be waiting for us. Get it done, but don't use any more than five or ten monsters. We don't need to waste any more energy than necessary. What else do we have stored?"

"Some nectar that was in their infirmary, along with all of their other useless medical supplies. We left it all where we found it though. It was of no use to us. We've found ten crates of Greek fire so far throughout the camp. Besides a few pipes from satyrs and other pathetic objects, there aren't any magical items here. Other than that, we've found basic supplies: ropes, armor, firewood, chariots-"

"You consider chariots as basic supplies?"

"Not really, but they aren't much good to us. They're too small for most of our monsters. Besides, we only have three."

"Show me."

With an annoyed sigh, she led me to the stables. The horses and pegasi inside started whinnying, kicking, and just generally freaking out the second we stepped in. The sphinx let out a sharp yowl that silenced them all.

"In the back," she hissed, nodding to the far wall. I stepped through the stable and found the chariots half-covered with a sheet. Throwing it back, I found the chariots in pretty good condition actually. They had a few nicks here and there, and a few spokes were broken, but the only other problem was that they were filthy.

"And you're sure that these are of no use to the army?"

"Absolutely. What would you like done with them?"

"Nothing, just leave them here."

"But they aren't useful. Why just let them take up space?"

"They'll make great kindling," I said, trying to smile demonically. "Get one hitched up to some horses though. It'll make a nice transport around the camp."

The sphinx stalked back outside. I waited for a few seconds before rushing to the doors and closing them. The horses immediately went into flip out mode.

"Hey!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I had to yell three more times before the horses finally started settling down. "I'm on your side here." A fresh round of whinnies and stomping started up again.

"Every single time," I muttered before screaming again, but nothing. The horses wouldn't calm down for me. _Gods, what does it take to get a horse to listen_ I thought. Then a thought hit me. In the myths, horses were created from sea foam, and the sea belonged to Poseidon. Maybe a connection was all I needed. Brooke and Nick…

"Poseidon!" I screamed. At the name, the horses immediately stopped and stared at me. A dark horse to my left let out a piercing whinny, then looked to me with what looked like pure hatred.

"Okay, I have no idea what any of you have been saying," I started. "I don't speak horse here. But, if you can bear with me and just cooperate for a little bit, I can get you to two descendants of Poseidon. You guys like people related to him, right?" The dark horse whinnied again. "I hope that was a yes. Anyway, there are two in the camp right now. They're hiding out in the woods, but they plan to help take back your camp. I can get you out of here if you work with me. Agreed?"

The horses glanced around, nickering and softly neighing to each other. Finally, the dark one bobbed its head to me. I sighed and was ready to start pulling open the stalls' doors when the stable doors flew open. The sphinx stormed in with a pair of dracaenae.

"Do you know what horses you want?" she asked impatiently. I glanced at the dark horse for a second, hoping the sphinx wouldn't notice. The horse nudged its head at two white horses on its right before stepping back to hide in its stall.

"These two." I pointed at the pair, realizing that they seemed smaller than most of the others.

"They are young. I doubt they will be much good," she snarled, her eyes digging into me like daggers.

"Does it look like I care? Hitch them up. Have the dracaenae bring the chariot to the house. I want you to check on the army. Make sure they're still moving weapons out."

Before she could say anything, I turned and walked out and back up to the mansion. For once, I didn't see any monsters hanging around.

"They were all scared away," a small voice squeaked behind me. I turned to find a girl that was maybe seven. She had big, chocolate brown eyes and slightly curly, light-brown hair. Her wrists were tied together and she was struggling to hold onto a broom that was taller than her. I glanced around to make sure nobody was around and stepped toward the girl.

"Who are you?" I asked softly.

"Who are _you_?" she asked.

"I'm Krystol. Who-"

"Where are you from?"

"Camp Half-Blood, back in New York. Now, who-"

"How old are you?"

"I'm twelve, now can I please-?"

"Who's your parent?"

"Can I please ask a question here?"

"I asked you first." She leaned the broom against the wall and tried to put on a defiant face.

"Look, I'm not going to play "I asked you first" with a seven-year-old, got it?"

"I'm eight!"

"My bad, but I've got more important things to do right now if you're just going to play games." I turned to walk away.

"Alexis Sellaire," I heard the girl say. I turned back to her. "This is my first year. My sister, Kaitlyn, thought I was ready for camp. She's twelve. They kept her in the basement, but they pulled me out to sweep things up. I think they like using us like slaves. It makes them happy to see us get scared."

"Alexis, can I tell you something?" She nodded at me, her eyes already full of curiosity. "Okay, you have to trust me though, alright? I came here with a few others on a quest to save this camp. Right now, I'm tricking the monsters into thinking that I'm on their side. I've got control of the army right now. It's a front so I can get access to all the weapons and other kids here. I'm trying to get everyone out of here and back to my friends. They're the ones who are planning out how we'll attack the monsters and take back your camp. I'm not really on the monsters' side, okay? So if you see me just screaming at monsters or other half-bloods, or acting kind of evil, it's not real."

"How'd you get them to trust you?" she asked.

"I tricked my dad into trusting me, and he told the army that I'm in charge here now."

"Who's your dad?" Well, that certainly wasn't a question I was looking forward to. If you hadn't figured it out by now, this was the one that usually made things blow up in my face.

"Um, my dad is…Kronos." I could've sworn the temperature dropped ten degrees. Fear flashed through the little girl's eyes for a second, but disappeared just as fast.

"He's bad, isn't he?" I nodded to her, waiting for her to break down and start screaming. "My dad is Ares."

Her words caught me off guard. Where was the screaming, the accusations, the "what's-wrong-with-you speech"? Then again, if I'd actually found a half-blood who trusted me… It would definitely be easier to get her out of here. And if I found any others who trusted her, maybe she could get them to trust me.

"Alexis, do you know where the basement that has the kids in it is?"

"Of course."

"Can you take me there?"

"Um, I'm supposed to be sweeping. What if the monsters come back and I'm not here? They'll be mad and…and…"

"Hey, remember, I'm in charge here. What I say goes. If I say I don't want you sweeping, you won't be sweeping, okay?" She nodded. "Good. Now, can you take me to the basement?"

Alexis led me to a relatively uninteresting door. It had a few gouges, just like everything else here, but it wouldn't have stood out as a basement door to me. Then again, I lived in an apartment. I didn't have a basement door.

"They're down and through here," Alexis whispered. "Well, most of them. Some others are upstairs."

"I know. I've seen some of them. Now here's what we're gonna do: I'm gonna pull two others out of here, okay? If you can find your sister really fast, and I mean _really_ fast, then you can pull her out, too. We'll explain to them that whole little spiel I gave you. If we have time, we can explain it to the other kids in the room, too. But I'm gonna get you and whoever we grab out of here, okay?"

"Okay," she said. "Will you get all the others out later?"

"Eventually, that's the plan." I opened the door and went down a staircase to a second door. Taking a breath, I opened the door. Alexis darted in, almost knocking me over in the process. I heard a few groans when the dim light hit the eyes of the half-bloods. Without hesitation, I reached out to the side, figuring the kids had probably lined themselves along the wall. My hand landed on someone and I pulled them to their feet and shoved them through the door. I reached out again and dragged another kid out. Alexis darted out a second later, pushing another girl ahead of her.

I stood to the side and watched the kids rub at their eyes, trying to adjust to the light. They were all bound at the wrists, just like Alexis. One was a tall, strong, dark-skinned teenaged boy with a thin layer of dark hair and hazel eyes. The other looked a little younger. He had light blonde hair, a thin frame with muscles that were just starting to tone, and a burning fear mixed with anger in his dark gray eyes. The other girl Alexis had dragged in basically looked like a taller and older look-a-like to the little girl.

"Great, now that I can see again," the tall boy started, his voice deep and hard, "why the Hades did you drag us out here?"

"She's here to help, Daniel," Alexis said excitedly, flashing a big smile at him. He cast a sidelong glance at her, then looked back to me.

"Who are you?"

"Krystol Lore. Do you mind if I know who you are?" The others kept silent, either glancing at each other or glaring at me. Finally, Alexis sighed and shook her head, then started pointing at the kids.

"That's Daniel, son of Hephaestus. This is Lee, son of Athena. And this is my sister, Kaitlyn, daughter of Ares."

"You really don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?" Lee growled.

"Shut up, owl face," Kaitlyn hissed. "You don't talk to my sister like that, got it?"

"And why do you think you can boss me around?" he snapped, turning and getting right in her face. The kid probably towered a good four or five inches over Kaitlyn, but she still looked ready to pummel him to a pulp. "Last I checked, I was two years older than you."

"Yeah, well last _I_ checked, I had seniority over you. My two years easily trumps your six months, so just shut up and keep your mouth out of places where it doesn't belong."

"You know what? I should just-"

"Will you two please shut up already?" Daniel rumbled. "And don't even think of challenging me. I'm three years older than you, Lee, and I've got three more years here than you, Kaitlyn. Now just shut up. We've got more important things going on here." The two stepped away from each other grumbling.

"Thanks," I smiled at Daniel.

"I wasn't doing it to help you," he replied evenly. I gulped and took a breath before launching into my normal speech. Alexis helped explain things a little, but they still didn't look ready to believe me until I brought up Layne and Fay. At the end, Daniel still looked a little uncertain. I couldn't figure out if Lee was happy to hear Fay was okay or if he was just pissed off for my bringing her up and thought I was messing with him. His face was as impassive as Fay's was. It was clear that Kaitlyn didn't believe me. She even said it out loud, and that she was only going along with any of this crap because of Alexis.

A door slammed closed upstairs and a monster's voice started calling for me. Alexis's eyes went wide with horror. Kaitlyn started shaking and pulled Alexis closer, her hands balling into fists. Lee tried to throw on a defiant expression, but the fear was shining in his eyes. Even Daniel, who held up a hard, angry face, shrunk back a little and tried to push the others behind him.

"I'll take care of it," I whispered quickly. "Alexis, you have five minutes to explain like I said. Make it-"

"Fast," she finished with a shaking voice. Nodding, I opened the door for her and she walked in to start talking. Without looking back, I raced up the stairs and through the first door.

There was a dracaenae in the main room. She hissed in surprise when I stormed in.

"What?" I snapped.

"T-The chariot isss ready, princesss," she stuttered, bowing deeply to me.

"Show me," I said, storming past her and outside. The two white horses were hitched up and picking up their hooves nervously while the other dracaenae yanked on their reins. The chariot had been polished to perfection and the missing spokes had been replaced with pieces of wood taped together. I walked up to it and checked the carriage. Little pouches hung from the inside, clearly full of something. A quiver had been installed at the back and stocked with arrows. Even a little scabbard had been attached.

"Did you do all of this?" I asked, waving my hand at the attachments.

"No, we believe the half-bloodsss did that," she answered nervously.

"It'll do," I said. Then an idea hit me. "Did you put any rope in it?"

"No."

"What?" I turned on her and brought out my sword. She fell down in her attempt to get away and started scrambling back. I turned to the other dracaenae and started yelling. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get me the rope, you morons!" The snakes slithered away to the stables as fast as they could. Taking a breath, I raced back into the house and ran right into Daniel.

"Dude!" I shouted in shock.

"We came up to see how you were planning to get us out of here," he said calmly.

"I told the others," Alexis piped up, stepping out from behind Daniel. "I don't think they're really too happy, but they should cooperate with you now."

"Thanks kid," I said, "and I think I know what we can do. I now apparently have a chariot at my disposal. I can tie two of you to it and "drag" you out to the woods to "get rid of you". Once we're away from the monsters, I'll just cut you all loose and take you back to the others."

"Okay, but what about the other two of us?" Lee asked.

"That's what these are for," I smiled, bringing Nick's and Brooke's hats out from under my shirt.

"How did you get those? Only Athena's kids have those."

"Yeah, remember when I said I was on a quest? Two of the others are related to Athena, and these belong to them. Here." I offered the hats up to Alexis and Kaitlyn.

"Um, what are doing?" Lee asked

"Uh, getting you all out of here."

"No duh, Sherlock. I meant why are you giving _them_ the hats?"

"Does it matter who gets the hats?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Hm, well let's see," Lee started. "You would've walked out with Daniel and I visible. Don't you think the monsters would've found it strange for a girl who's clearly had minimal training to be taking a kid like Daniel, who's probably at least a foot and a half taller than you and clearly much stronger with five years of training, out to the woods to kill him? I mean, since I don't have any beads, they'd know I probably haven't had a ton of training, so I'm a more reasonable choice for you to kill. But if you take Daniel out there, it'll be just like asking for bad attention."

"I hate to admit it, but he's got a point," Kaitlyn grumbled.

"Fine," I muttered and tossed a hat at Daniel. "Now who else?"

"Give it to Kaitlyn," Lee mumbled. "She's got the beads to prove the years. She'll look like more of a threat." I handed the hat to Kaitlyn, who grabbed it and struggled to get it on her head. She and Daniel disappeared in the next second.

"Okay, here we go guys," I sighed. "Remember, no matter what kind of stuff I say or what I do, it's not real. It's just an act to keep their trust."

"Yeah, yeah, just get a move on already," Kaitlyn said impatiently. I grabbed Lee and Alexis and shoved them through the double doors.

Outside, the dracaenae were just returning with a bundle of ropes. I ripped the ropes from them and told them to get lost. I looped the ropes around Lee's and Alexis's wrists and tied them to the chariot. I climbed into the carriage shakily and grabbed the reins.

"Okay, horses, please don't kill us," I begged quietly. "I have no idea what I'm doing and there's people tied to the back of this thing."

"Don't worry," I heard Daniel say. "We've got this. Just stand tall and look important." I felt the reins pull a little and the horses started walking forward. In minutes, we made it into the forest. The horses kept walking for five minutes until they stopped next to a creek.

Daniel and Kaitlyn took off the hats and grinned at me, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Lee smiled as I cut through his bonds.

"Yeah, well believe it, because this is the third time I've pulled off something like it," I said smugly, slicing Alexis's ropes apart. I cut out Daniel and Kaitlyn, grabbed the reins, and started leading them through the woods.

In ten minutes, we broke out of the trees and came to the wall, then followed it back to the cave. We walked up to find Nick and Alex sitting in the trees. Abby was lying on a low cliff with her arm dangling over the side. Laelaps sat with his head on his paws next to her. Brooke, Layne, and Fay were kneeling in a semicircle and pointing at some drawing. I let out a low whistle and watched all their heads snap up. Fay was the first to react. She practically vaulted the other two and raced towards us, tackling Lee to the ground.

"Gods, Fay, you're acting like you haven't seen him in months," Kaitlyn joked, rolling her eyes and walking towards Layne. Daniel shook his head and smiled before leaning up against the cliff wall. Brooke came over and nudged me away from the others.

"Not bad, Krys," she smiled. "How'd you manage to get four at once?"

"Well, the monsters thought I only had two," I shrugged.

"How'd you get them to believe that?"

"Do you see those hats they're holding?" Brooke glanced over at the others for a few seconds before her face dropped in surprise.

"Where did you get those?"

"I gave 'em to her," Nick said, coming up to us with Alex. Brooke stared at him for a second before smacking him across the back of his head.

"Ow!" Nick shouted, grabbing his head. "What the Hades was that for?"

"Don't steal my hat again."

"Fine."

"Where'd you get a chariot?" Alex asked.

"There were three in the back of the stables. The sphinx wanted to destroy them, but I thought you guys might find them a bit more useful."

"What do you mean?" Nick asked.

"I was going to leave the chariot here. I figured you could use it when we attack."

"Wouldn't the monsters get suspicious?" I jumped at Fay's question.

"She's right," Layne joined in, walking over with the other four in tow. "I mean, the sphinx obviously knows how many chariots there are. That witch knows about everything from weapons count to how many dryads were singing at the edge of the woods. There's no way she'd miss an entire chariot, plus two horses."

"And no matter how quickly you can make a decent story, not even you can pull this off," Fay added. "I'll admit, you're good, but you're not that good. Eventually, you're gonna slip up."

"You've known me for about twelve hours, Fay," I smiled. "You have no idea what I can pull off."

"But I do," Brooke interrupted. "I've known you for about a month, which really isn't any time at all, but I've figured some stuff out. Fay's right, you're good at on-the-spot stories. You're a good talker, fast thinker, and you're street smart. Heck, you had me fooled until we got in here. But believe us when we say that it won't last forever."

"I don't need it to last forever, just until we're ready to attack. Oh, and you might want to check the labyrinth entrance at some point tonight. I had the monsters send out some things that you guys should find valuable."

I turned on my heel without waiting for any answers and walked back through the forest. The trees started rustling all around me. Sighing, I started talking, hoping the dryads would be listening.

"I need your guys' help. Try to dial down any struggles you guys are having with the monsters. The more fights you get in, the more they'll attack you. If you can wait, the half-bloods will be attacking soon. Everybody will be better off if we attack in force. If you want to help now, then just watch the monsters. Keep my friends by the caves updated on what's going on. If any lone monsters wander through the woods, you can finish them off, otherwise just lay low."

I walked out of the woods a few minutes later and got to the stables as fast as I could, hoping none of the monsters had seen me. Closing the door behind me, I sighed. A few horses whinnied at me. I turned and walked to the dark one that I'd decided was in charge.

"Those two horses are safe, and I left the chariot in the woods for the demigods. Now, before the monsters see me without one, can any of you help me put together one of these chariots?" The dark horse snorted and nodded at me. I unlatched his stall and let him prance out. He shook twice and snorted, then nudged me towards the stalls on the other side of the stable. He pushed me until I was in between two stalls with white horses. I turned back to look at him.

"I said I need help putting the chariot together, not meeting horses," I snapped. The horse whinnied loudly and stamped his hoof. The two behind me nickered in what sounded like annoyance. The dark one nosed me back around to look at the other two.

"Look, I really need to get a chariot put together. I don't have time to…" Realization hit me. The horses were white, just like the last pair, maybe a little bigger, but otherwise they looked exactly alike.

"Oh," I mumbled, feeling my face get hot. The two white horses whinnied and tossed their heads, and I could've sworn they rolled their eyes at me. Holding down a growl, I unlatched their stalls and walked back to the chariots with the horses following.

The white ones immediately backed themselves up to the chariot. The dark one started lifting up straps and other chariot pieces and nodding his head at where I had to put them. It took almost a half-hour for me to put the chariot together, but I finally got it done without any monsters walking in. The dark horse walked over to one of the back corners and whinnied at me. Joining him, I found a pile of hay on the ground.

"What?" I asked. "Are you hungry?" Snorting, the horse started pushing the hay away. After a minute, the horse nudged me closer to the corner and started stomping at the ground. I got on my knees and started running my hands across the floor boards until I felt a slight catch. "What the…?"

I pulled out my sword, dug it between the catch and the floor, and pushed down to pry it open. A wooden hatch that matched the floor rose up to reveal a secret hole. I glanced at the horse for a second and hopped into the hole.

It wasn't a very deep hole. Actually, the floor of the stable was just below my chin still. Ducking my head, I stared into darkness. I reached out with my hands to find four stone walls each within an arm's reach.

"There's nothing in here," I complained, swinging out my hand and hitting a wall with an echo. Holding back a few choice words, I cradled my hand. Then a thought hit me: the wall had an echo. Reaching over, I tapped on the wall with my knuckles and heard the echo again.

"It's hollow," I whispered to myself.

I pushed up against the wall and felt it give way. Dim lights flickered on to show a room about ten square feet around. I stepped down a small staircase and could finally stand upright. The room was stacked with bags and boxes full of things I couldn't quite make out. Sheets covered a few small stacks in the corners. What looked like statues stood against the walls, some covered up by sheets and others hidden by shadows.

"What the heck?" I muttered. I stumbled back to the hole and poked my head out. The horse was still there.

"Do you have a flashlight?" I asked. Whinnying, the horse trotted away and came back with small flashlight in its mouth. Smiling, I grabbed it and ducked back into the far room.

I turned on the light and flashed it around. The boxes were full of swords, bows and arrows, daggers, and spears. I opened up one of the bags to find a stash of green pots covered with plastic wrap and filled with some kind of liquid. Walking over to one of walls, I pulled on a sheet and found a metal warrior a few feet taller than me. I pulled off a few other sheets and shined the light into the shadows to find more metal statues.

"Nice storage," I shouted up at the horse. "I think these guys were expecting war, or declaring it." The horse whinnied again.

Suddenly, I heard the door slam closed. The horse's hooves pounded on the floor above me. The chariot's wheels started creaking as frightened whinnies filled the stable. I stumbled back to the hole and put my hands up to push open the door and yell at the horses. Then voices started shouting above me.

"Argh!" someone howled. It sounded like the sphinx again. "Where is that little brat?"

"You should be careful," a nervous voice yipped. "If she hears about what you've been saying, or the things you've told some of the monsters, then-."

"Enough! She won't find out. She's too busy trying to maintain control where she doesn't belong. She won't be here much longer. We'll have enough force to drive her out, or kill her, if we're lucky."

"We cannot possibly be building against her that quickly, can we?" the other whined.

"We are. Most of the leaders are already against her, and they are finding it remarkably easy to turn their followers."

"Well, what does it even matter that she's in control? Either way, we still get to destroy this camp. We'll still invade New York's camp and kill the demigods there. The titans will still rise and bring down the gods. How does having her in charge change any of that?"

"There's something about her. She was too eager in taking her control. She does not associate with the monsters, only threatens to kill them."

"Isn't that what you did?" another voice put in.

I heard the sphinx howl with rage and the sound of sand falling on the floor above me.

"Do _you_ have anything to add?" she hissed. Considering that there wasn't an answer, I guessed that the other monster was okay with being silent.

"Where is the third chariot?" the sphinx asked after a minute.

"K-Krystol took it," the monster stammered.

"No, her chariot is here. Or have you gone blind?"

"Well-"

"Wait! Her chariot _is_ here. She must be close. And another is missing… Gah! She must have a hand in this! Find her!"

"Um, K-Krystol?" the other called out uncertainly.

"You idiot! If she is here, then she will not simply walk out for us. Search the stable! And bring her to me when she is found!" The sphinx padded around above me, then the stable door slammed shut.

I let out my breath and stood still for a few seconds, listening to the monster shuffle across the floor. I put the flashlight down, pulled out my sword, and put my hand against the door. I took a breath to brace myself for whatever monster was out there, shoved the door up, and leapt out with a yell.

I found the dark horse stamping around in a pile of monster dust, scattering it across the floor.

"You couldn't even wait for me to see what it was?" I complained, dropping my sword point to the ground. The horse snorted and shook its head.

Sighing, I hustled back down to the storage room. I grabbed a few of the green pots, some daggers, arrows, a bow, and a sword. Dragging it all back and up through the hole, I shoved whatever I could fit into the chariot pouches and climbed in the carriage. The horses pulled me towards the door. I jumped out to open the door, but turned back to the stalls. I unlatched about half the doors, getting what looked like confused faces from the horses.

"Wait a few minutes after I leave, and then run out. You guys escaping can be blamed on that monster that was there. Hide out in the woods for a while. Make your way back to the demigods at the caves. Try not to bunch into huge groups or head straight to them, okay?"

Getting a couple whinnies and snorts, I pushed the main door open, led my horses out, and almost closed the door, leaving the barest crack for the horses to get out. Climbing into the chariot, I started for the forges. I watched the monsters pull weapons around and tinker with some of the metal for ten minutes before I heard yelling and what sounded like a stampede somewhere behind me. I smiled a little at the whinnying that grew distant as the horses bolted for the woods. After a minute, the horses pulled the chariot around and trotted towards the stable.

A few dozen monsters were running around, some screaming, most completely confused. I caught sight of the sphinx trying to yell out orders. I watched the chaos for a minute before letting out a long, high whistle that caught everyone's attention.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to put genuine confusion into my voice.

"About half the horses just escaped," the sphinx snapped. "Their stalls were unlocked somehow, and the main door was left open. They trampled at least twenty monsters."

"Hm, and who was the last monster in the stable?"

"I…" the sphinx froze at what she started saying.

"What was that?" I asked expectantly, raising an eyebrow at her. I'd caught her. She couldn't say she'd been in there last (even if she'd been looking for me) without getting at least some of the blame for this, especially since the other monster wasn't there to give her proof that I had been in the stable.

"I had those two dracaenae prepare your chariot," she said quickly. "They were the last monsters I know of being in there."

"Bring them here," I ordered.

Five minutes later, two giants dragged the dracaenae up to me. They fell to their knees, begging for forgiveness. I tried to keep my face cold, but it was so hard. I wanted to laugh at the fact that I had two monsters begging at my feet and dozens of others backing away in fear, but wanted to break down under the gaze of the sphinx. I could see in her eyes that she knew I'd had a part in all of this. _Gods, those girls were right_ I thought.This wasn't going to last much longer. I had to start making some serious moves, and soon. I turned my attention back to the dracaenae.

"You two were the last ones in the stable. You pulled my horses from their stalls. Is it possible, then, that you left a few stalls undone and the door open when you left?" I asked.

"Pleassse, my princessss," one begged, "we did not open thossse stallsss. The door wasss closssed, we ssswear."

"Then why are more than twenty monsters dead and half of the horses gone? Did a ghost walk in and do it all?"

"Pleassse, have mercy."

"There's no room for mercy in Kronos's army, and no room for failure. You have failed, and there is always a price for failure." The dracaenae dropped their eyes from mine. I pulled out my sword and slashed at the monsters.

I turned away and jumped back into the chariot as the dust blew in the breeze. The monsters looked at the dust piles in fear and misery.

"What are you waiting for?" I growled. "Get back to work."

"What of the horses?" the sphinx hissed.

"Did any pegasi escape?"

"No."

"Then the normal horses won't do any damage. You didn't use them anyway. And it's not like they can actually cross the country in enough time to alert New York of what's going on. Let them go. They're meaningless to us."

I pulled on the reins, hoping that I wasn't hurting the horses, and the chariot rolled away to the mansion to pull out more kids.

I spent two days trying to finish up the plans. I "killed" another twenty-six kids. Some of the Hephaestus kids used a few small tunnels that ran under the camp to steal back some weapons in the nights. Another stampede released the last horses and the final chariot "disappeared". About thirty monsters were killed sporadically when they entered the woods to move supplies. I killed at least a dozen more for reasons that I made up: failing in the army, being traitors, etc. I could tell the sphinx was getting more suspicious with every passing hour, but she never brought anything up in front of the monsters. She almost caught me in my stories three times, though. I could tell the monsters were getting bolder, too. They weren't listening to me as much, and they weren't as fearful. I had to end this soon, or they'd figure something out, and then we'd all be dead.

My chariot bumped over rocks and roots as I led the way through the woods. The last five demigods were tied to the back of the chariot and were being tailed by ten monsters. I'd told the sphinx that I'd chosen those monsters to join me in killing the last kids, and not to worry about us before we left. The horses stopped in the small clearing that had already been chosen. The kids were cut loose and lined up in the middle of the clearing.

"I hope you enjoyed living," I muttered, casting glances around at the shadows outside the clearing.

"Quit stalling and just get it over with already," a boy in his late teens snapped. I glanced at him and the others. They seemed so miserable and dejected. I looked back to the trees, watching the leaves shake a little and the shadows twitch. I turned back to the monsters and pointed at a harpy.

"Go ahead," I said. The harpy cackled in joy and flew at a girl. It got within a foot of the girl when it hit the ground. The harpy flopped for a second before crumbling into sand, an arrow sticking out of the middle of the pile.

"What…" a telekhine trailed. The monsters and kids looked completely bewildered. They all looked to me for an explanation. I felt a devilish smile crawl across my lips.

"Have at 'em, guys," I said.

A knife twirled out of the trees and dug into a monster up to its hilt. Two more arrows shot out from the shadows and caught a giant in the chest. Half-a-dozen partially armored kids flew out from the trees all around us, surrounding the surprised monsters and finishing them off in seconds.

"W-What just happened?" a brown-haired girl stuttered.

"We just set you free," Brooke said, coming forward and picking up her dagger from one of the sand piles. Some of the new arrivals stepped forward and cut the kids loose.

"What's going on?" the boy who'd snapped at me asked.

"Long story short," Fay started, pulling off a filthy, stained helmet, "Krys is tricking the monsters into trusting her. She's got control of the army, she's busted every single one of us out, and she's helping steal weapons and stuff so we can attack the monsters."

"But…"

"Ethan, just accept it," one of the archers sighed. "We all had the same treatment as you."

"They're right," Brooke said. "Now let's get out of here before something finds us."

We jogged back through the woods to the caves. About twenty kids were roaming around outside, carrying weapons, medicine, and food that had either been stolen by myself, taken by the half-bloods managing to sneak around camp, or salvaged from the woods. Small crates were stacked a few feet from the caves and being moved around. The chariots sat inside another shallow cave. Other kids who'd been more injured sat under trees and low cliffs. After just a few days, it was like looking at a miniature town versus a hideout for escaped half-bloods.

"Go on in there, guys," Fay told the newly rescued kids, pointing at the cave that had become our infirmary.

Leaving the others, Brooke, Fay, and I made our way over to where Layne was crouched. He was staring at some of the tattered papers we'd gotten from the Stolls.

"Any ideas?" Fay asked.

"Well, I agree with Brooke," he said, looking up at us. "Our numbers are too low. If we attack in the open, we'll probably be slaughtered."

"So we'll need some place tighter," Brooke said. "We need a place that's not overly hard to move through, but not easy for an army to get through."

"Well, we could try a fight out here," Fay suggested, "but then we run the risk of being pinned against the cliff."

"The woods would be our best shot," Layne muttered. "And in the woods, the nymphs could fight easier. But we've also got a decent supply of Greek fire, and we really don't need to set the woods on fire. Plus, most of the automatons are closer to the edge of the forest. We'd end up using them as an initial line of defense that wouldn't last long, and then we'd be down on even more fighters."

"Any news from the boys?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, we got an IM about twenty minutes ago. Alex is working on raising what he can."

"Wait, what are the boys doing?" I asked.

"They went out to that old graveyard a few miles from here," Brooke explained. "Apparently, some of the Hephaestus and Hermes kids have been digging through old miner tunnels in the cliff's side for about five years. The tunnels go from the caves to an area about a half-mile from the graveyard. Nick, Alex, and Daniel went out there to see if we could gain any more assets in this fight. Alex is trying to pull up an undead army, but he can only get us so much before he runs out of power. Given his training, we might get a hundred skeletons, and even that'll probably have him sleeping for a few hours."

"How many monsters are still around?" Fay asked me

"I don't know," I shrugged, "probably somewhere between a hundred or two." Fay and Layne sighed, dropping their eyes and shaking their heads.

"Come on guys," Brooke said, trying to sound hopeful, "remember the last Titan War? They only had about forty half-bloods against hundreds of monsters, and they still won."

"Yeah," Layne started without any enthusiasm, "but they also had about thirty hunters, a ton of automatons and statues, five hundred centaurs, all the nature spirits around Manhattan, and a few gods that had stayed behind. We've got thirty-seven starved, beaten, sick, and injured kids, maybe two dozen automatons, however many skeletons Alex can get, and whatever nymphs are crazy enough to fight with us. Plus, we barely have enough weapons to go around, and about ten sets of complete armor. Our chariots aren't in the best condition. If we ride the horses, we'll end up bareback riding, which is extremely hard. And there's probably a ton of other disadvantages we have that I haven't listed."

"Then instead of thinking of disadvantages, let's find our advantages and use them," Brooke insisted. "We have to have some. There's no way that we have absolutely no advantages over these guys."

"Well," Fay sighed, "we know the land better than they do. They don't know we're still alive. Chances are, we're smarter than them. But still, those aren't much of advantages in comparison to them."

"Well, maybe-"

Somebody shouted in surprise. In seconds, every half-blood either had weapons pulled out or had gone into fighting stances. Everyone was looking at the entrance to one of the caves where two girls were lying on the ground. One of the girls sat up, and I realized it was that little Ares girl, Alexis. She shook her head a few times then glanced at the girl on the ground with her.

"Ambushed!" she declared with a huge smile.

"Gods, Alexis!" the other girl shouted angrily.

"You knew it was coming, Kaitlyn!"

"Okay people, I think we're safe," Layne announced, walking over to the girls. "Looks like dumb and dumber were just playing around. Go ahead and go back to whatever you were doing."

"What are you two doing?" Fay asked as Layne walked back with the girls.

"Playing a game," Alexis shrugged with a little smile. "It's called Ambush." We all gave her blank stares.

"It's a game we made up when we were younger," Kaitlyn explained. "You know, back before the half-blood business when we still had half-blood impulses. You basically sneak up on whoever you're after and try to scare the crap out them by "ambushing" them."

"Yeah, you're supposed to do it when they least expect it in the least expected way," Alexis added. "And the ambusher can attack at any point. Sometimes the ambushes are only a few hours apart, but we've gone as far as two weeks before. It's supposed to keep you on your toes."

"Okay," Layne started slowly, "how about we not play that game right now? We need to be ready to move at any minute, so we can't really afford to mess around. Besides, yelling like that obviously freaks out everybody. And we don't want to accidentally alert any monsters."

"Aw, but it's so much fun," Alexis whined.

"We'll have time for fun later, okay? Now, why don't you guys go back to whatever you were doing?" The pair walked away, laughing a little and pushing each other around.

"Well, now that we're done with that, does anyone have any ideas?" Fay asked.

"Ambush," Brooke whispered thoughtfully.

"Brooke," Layne started with a warning tone, "I can already see what you're thinking, and the answer is no. Ambushing wouldn't be any better than a head on fight. We might kill a few more monsters, but they'd just regroup and kill us after a little while. Our forces aren't strong enough."

"Maybe it's not that _we_ aren't strong enough. Why not say that _they're_ too strong?"

"Uh, because it's the same concept," Fay supplied.

"Yeah, but what do you do with something that's too strong and has to be balanced out? It's like those games with different weights on a scale. Each side has to weigh the same. If one side is too heavy though, you do what?"

"You separate the weight until it's even," Fay answered. Brooke smiled and waved her hand for Fay to keep going. "Oh, I see what you're talking about."

"Well I don't, so can you explain it to me?" I put in.

"The monsters are too strong for us now, but if we split them up, their strength decreases and we get a decent chance against them," Layne said, nodding his head with realization. "All we have to do is split the army up."

"Okay," I said slowly, "but how are you going to divide the army without actually attacking them?"

"That's what the titan princess is good for," Brooke smirked, eyeing me with an expression that made me think life was about to get a whole lot worse.

"I really hate my job," I grumbled.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate some of Brooke's plans? I probably have, but in case not, I really do hate them sometimes. Seriously, I was ready to throttle her when she told me this plan.

I was busy fuming and thinking of ways to pay her back for this when a monster rammed into me. I cringed and shoved them away, moving through the crowd to try to find a quiet place to stop. A group of Laistrygonians stormed across the field in bed sheet robes and lampshade helmets, yelling "TOGA! TOGA!" Hellhounds were howling in circles around campfires at the full moon. Manticores and dracaenae were playing tackle football, taking out a couple of tents and weapon stacks in the process. Harpies were dive-bombing at the crowd of monsters and swooping away at the last second. Rock music blared from a sound system that one of the monsters pillaged from somewhere. Altogether, it was like watching an oversized, freak show version of a frat party.

And that was Brooke's brilliant plan. I was supposed to hold a celebration to honor the army's victory over the half-bloods here and to bring us good fortune for invading New York, or some crap like that. Apparently, this was supposed to be some kind of distraction. The party was meant to take up as much of the monsters' resting time as possible and help me gain back some trust. Meanwhile, Brooke and the others were supposed to be mobilizing our forces into an ambush position.

I finally made my way out of the throng of monsters and started for the mansion.

"Where are you going, _princess_?" I heard the sphinx hiss behind me. I froze and let out a slow breath.

"I'm turning in early," I answered, not having to fake the annoyance in my voice.

"But my princess," she said silkily as a few monsters joined her, "do you not wish to join in the celebrations you yourself decreed for your army?"

"I would, but I have important business to attend to, such as our mobilization tomorrow morning."

"Don't you think we smaller leaders should be involved?" an empousa asked.

"Thank you, but I have it under control," I replied, putting a smile on my face. "Besides, I need to speak with Kronos as well, which I doubt any of you can become involved in. Please, enjoy the party. You've worked hard. You deserve this before our next journey." Without waiting for a response, I turned and stalked back to the mansion, thankfully without any monsters.

I trudged up the stairs and into my room, collapsing onto my bed. I still couldn't believe how crazy the demigods were to try this plan. Either it would work by some miracle, or it would backfire brutally and we'd end up dying horrible, painful deaths. Yeah, that was something to look forward to. But Brooke was almost positive this plan would work, and as much as I hated some of her plans, I'd learned that they tended to work out, one way or another. Now whether that one way would be good or not, I didn't know, but I had no choice. None of us did. It was all or nothing now, and that was all we had.

At some point, I managed to fall asleep again, because the next I knew, I was staring at my Oracle buddy.

_What do you want now_ I whined.

_Only to speak for a moment_ she replied. _You and your friends have come a long way, child, but you have more than you could ever imagine left._

_Well yeah, I mean, we still have to free the camp and everything._

_Have you forgotten the prophecy, Krystol? _She was right. I'd been so caught up in the quest that I'd forgotten about the actual prophecy.

_Well, it's worked out so far without any deaths. We made it to the West and we got to the camp._

_And the rest? "Success to the victors as before. And fail as the servant strikes once more." Have you any idea how this will play out for you?_

_Well, no, not really. But maybe you could explain it to me. Who is it talking about, the victors' part? Is it about us or the monsters? Seriously, knowing that line could save us a lot of time and lives._

_It would not matter if you knew who would win, it would still happen if you tried to avoid it. It is best that you not run from the fight coming for you. It cannot be avoided. But no, child, I cannot tell you who will win. Even I cannot see that. The Fates have forbidden my seeing it. _

_Well that sucks, but what about the last line? Can you tell me about that? Who does the servant get, and when? Help me out here. We could save that Aphrodite kid._

_There is so much still that you do not know. The world works in strange ways, Krystol, and Fate demands what it calls for in the least likely ways. I cannot tell you anything, and you know that. Just remember, prophecies rarely work the way we expect them to, and life is never fair._

_What do you mean?_

I felt the dream changing on me, and the last thing I saw was her face full of sorrow and guilt.

The dream swam back into focus, and I found myself in the camp. Roars and screams filled the air. Half-bloods raced by to battle monsters. Rocks flew overhead, being thrown by giants and catapults. Green fire exploded across the valley as Greek fire ignited. Some of the cabins were already in flames. Harpies and other monsters soared through the air, dueling with mounted demigods. The monster line just pushed the half-bloods back. Kids shouted and screamed in pain and fear. I watched one disappear under a pack of hellhounds. The ground started shaking and shadows fell upon the battle. As darkness closed in on the fight, my dream moved again.

I was in the woods somewhere. I couldn't figure out if it was the camp or somewhere else. Then a group of people flashed by me, going too fast to see. I barely caught a glimpse of dark hair and hardly heard them shouting at each other. I tried to follow, but a massive shadow fell over me. It felt like ice was running down my back as I turned to see whatever was behind me, but things moved again.

There was somebody, a girl with long, dark hair, lying at the base of a grassy hill. The closer I got to her, the more I could see that something was seriously wrong. Her arms were dotted with scratches. Her clothes were dirt-covered, singed, and torn. Her face was buried in the grass, covered by her hair and arms. Her shoulders shook violently as she sobbed. I reached out for her on impulse, but the image dissolved before I touched her.

I saw an overhead view of Camp Half-Blood in New York. It was the middle of the night, but the camp burned brightly with torches. The campfire burned low and dark, and I could just barely hear crying and moaning coming from the kids around it.

Something was wrong (or was going to be wrong), but nothing made sense. The dreams didn't fit together, at least as far as I could tell. How was I supposed use these stupid things to help if they made no sense? Unless this had already happened. But it couldn't have happened. I knew I was seeing the future. This had to be what the Oracle had been trying to warn me about, but I was lost.

I watched as the vision faded into darkness until there was nothing to look at. As I stared into nothing, I felt an old, gnarled hand on my shoulder, but I couldn't turn to see who it belonged to.

_This prophecy has brought pain and sorrow to you, child _a harsh, ragged voice said._ It has uprooted your life unjustly, and you could do nothing but watch it tear everything down._

Another hand came and rested lightly on my other shoulder. It was strong and calloused, but still had a welcoming touch, like a mother's.

_And now it looms over you once more, to challenge you on the field of battle _a stern voice said. _It waits now for the fight you have set up. Now, you shall find the answers your friends have sought. Now you will know who this fight belongs to. _

A small, soft hand weaved its way into mine.

_And soon,_ a soft, young voice started, _you shall see the destruction that was always meant to come. No matter what you do, fate has been sealed. You cannot change the prophecy._

The hands disappeared and the voices spoke together. _Listen well to those around you, child, and never forget what you have been told._

A wooden structure appeared in front of me. It was one of those ancient Greek funeral pyres, and it was going up in flames.

_Life is never fair_ the voices whispered.

My eyes snapped open to find early dawn light streaming through the window. I felt tears trailing down my cheeks. Wiping them away, I swung out of bed and raced down the stairs. Flying out of the house, I found a few monsters stumbling across the field. Most were snoring in groups strewn across the ground. I stepped forward, but something grabbed my arm, covered my mouth, and pulled me back into the shadows of the mansion. It let go of me when we got around the corner.

"Chill out," a familiar voice whispered. "I'm just here to tell you we're ready when you are." My jaw dropped. I reached out in front of me, grabbed at where I knew her head was, and pulled off the invisibility hat. There was Brooke, in all of her stupid bravery.

"What the Hades are you doing here?" I hissed. "I have to admit, I admire your courage, but do you know how stupid of an idea this was?"

"It's an inherited thing," she shrugged. "Blame Dad, he pulled off this crap all the time."

"Yeah, well you're not your dad, so be careful."

"You're telling me? You're the one who's spent half a week hanging out with monsters."

"Yeah, but they don't want to rip me limb from limb as revenge against my parents."

"Of course they don't. They serve your dad. That doesn't mean they don't want to kill you."

"You know what, I-"

"Princess?" I heard the sphinx hiss. Brooke's eyes went wide with horror. I pulled the hat back on her head and shoved her away as the sphinx came around the corner. "I thought I saw you come back here. Are you ready for the army to move?"

"Y-Yes," I stuttered, my eyes flicking over to where Brooke was. I could barely see her shadow against the wall. With luck, the sphinx wouldn't notice her. "_I'm ready." _I tried to put emphasis on the words, hoping Brooke would pick up on it. "I'll take care of things. Go ahead and _get ready to move_. I'll make sure they're where they belong."

"Of course," the sphinx said slowly, not sounding even slightly convinced. She turned to leave, but stopped and sniffed at the air. "I smell a demigod."

"O-Of course you do. This camp was covered in them up until yesterday. You probably just smell the remains of them. Don't worry. We'll burn it away when we leave. Now _go_." Growling and sniffing a little more, the sphinx finally backed away and stormed across the field. I heard Brooke turn on her heel and the crunch of a few leaves as the she ran back to the woods.

An hour later, the army was gathered in the field: a hundred-fifty well-armed, terrifying monsters staggering around and swooning on their feet. I'd already sent fifty monsters ahead to check on all the weapons that had been sent out to the labyrinth. Of course, none of them would ever make it back, thanks to the nymphs and automatons. That would help even the odds a bit, but I was still terrified.

I stepped away from the army and walked to the edge of the woods before turning back.

"Today we begin our real fight," I shouted. The monster army roared in support, although a few tripped and smashed apart some of the ranks. "Today, we will take the camp and destroy our enemies. Nothing will stand in our way. Victory will be ours." The monsters raised their spears, slammed their swords against their shields, and cheered.

"Let us leave now," the sphinx called impatiently.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Brooke said, pulling off her hat and walking up next to me.

"A Jackson!" the sphinx howled. "What is this?"

"Your worst nightmare," Brooke snarled. I pulled out my discus and took aim.

"And your last," I added, letting the discus fly at the sphinx. It slammed right into her chest and she disintegrated on the spot.

"Forward, in formation," Brooke called. Thirty-seven half-bloods filed out of the woods behind us, some on foot, others riding horses and chariots. "Hope you like battling, demons, 'cause you're about to have the fight of your life."

The monsters stood frozen for a few seconds, then let out a jaw-rattling roar and charged forward. Brooke took a breath, drew her sword, and let out a battle cry. The rest of us shouted as loud as we could and followed Brooke's charge into battle. The armies met each other in a massive clash, and all Hades broke loose.

**And I finally managed to finish this chapter. I thank writer's block, school, and sometimes my own laziness for it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Oh, and a special thanks to my two friends from school who inspired Ambush. Yes, people, they actually do that kind of stuff in public. They're kind of psychotic. So, that's about it. R&R people.**


	18. Everything Is On The Line

**Chapter 18: Everything Is On The Line**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO…obviously.**

I raced across the field, following Brooke toward the charging monsters. Hundreds of questions flew around my head. What if this didn't work? What if the forest ambush had failed? What if we couldn't save the camp and all we were accomplishing was getting ourselves killed?

Not a single answer came to mind as we crashed into the enemy line. I ducked under a dracaena's trident, rolled through a giant's legs, and tackled a harpy. Stabbing her in the gut, I turned in time to stop a Laistrygonian from cleaving me in two. The blow still made my knees give out and I fell. The giant took the opening and lifted me off the ground. He opened his mouth and let out a jaw-rattling roar, spraying me with stinking monster spit. Then the giant froze and dropped me before collapsing into a pile of sand with an arrow sticking out of the middle. I glanced back at the tree line where the archers were standing. One of the girls was staring at me with her bow ready to fire. I smiled and waved at her, knowing she'd just saved my life. She nodded back and fired into the monster army. I picked up my sword and slashed a telekhine from behind before darting into battle again.

The monsters had clearly gotten over their initial shock. They had finally organized themselves into a basic formation and were pushing the demigods back. Hellhounds leaped out lines at kids and harpies swooped down as distractions. Screams of fear and pain were starting to build on our side as the monsters roared in triumph. The tide had already turned and we were losing. I counted off six kids that had already retreated back to our archers. A kid went down a few feet to my right, and another almost had his head taken off trying to save the kid. I was ready to turn tail and run for it when Brooke's whistle finally pierced the air.

Without hesitation, the half-bloods started moving back from the monsters, stopping only to defend themselves. We drew back into a tight crowd with our weapons bristling in front of us. The monsters finally stopped less than twenty feet from us. An empousa stepped forward and cackled.

"You are finished, demigods," she sneered. "You can't possibly stand against us. Your camp will burn, and you will all die with it."

"Keep dreaming, witch!" I hissed.

"Silence!" she howled. Most of the army roared and jeered at me. "Traitors like you don't even deserve to die in the dirt with the scum you help. No, Kronos himself will take care of you. No doubt he will want to personally carry out your punishment, along with your little mix-blood here."

"So, let me get this straight," Brooke started, taking two steps towards the monsters and dropping her sword point to the ground. A few monsters let out deep growls and hisses. The empousa's sneer dropped and she took a half-step back before recomposing herself. It still surprised me how much fear one twelve-year-old girl could create. "You monsters are going to kill all of these half-bloods, destroy this camp, and capture Krystol and me so Kronos can have his little revenge. In that case, can you explain a few things to me? One, you couldn't even kill these guys when they were prisoners. What makes you think you can kill them now that they're free, armed, and out for revenge? Two, this camp survived your first attack. Even if you somehow managed to completely destroy it physically, the determination and pride built with this camp will live on, so you'll never really destroy it. Besides, you'd never manage to destroy New York's camp if you got there. And three, Krystol and I have evaded capture and death every single time a monster, whether they were alone or sent by Kronos, came after us. I've survived almost four summers of fighting creeps like you, and Krystol has survived for days standing side by side with all of you. So tell me, what honestly makes you believe you'll win this fight?"

"And what makes you so confident that we will lose?" the empousa snarled.

Brooke paused before standing as tall as she could and squaring her shoulders. I could just imagine that faint smile flickering at her lips, the one that she used when she knew she had the upper hand or some kind of surprise.

"The better question to ask is why I'm so confident we'll win. We're half-bloods, and we don't go down without a fight. Besides, I'm a smart girl. In case you're one of the monsters that haven't heard of my reputation, I should tell you: once I've set my mind to something or figured something out, one way or another, you can guarantee it'll happen."

Brooke took a step back and raised her sword straight up. A faint rumbling sounded around us, and vibrations from the ground shot up through my feet. The three chariots barreled out of the forest, driven and armed by the six kids that had first retreated. About twenty-five horses stormed across the field with nymphs on their backs, splitting into two groups and running alongside the flanks of the monster army. More nymphs poured from the trees as roots burst from the ground, thick vines and weeds sprouted wherever the dryads' feet touched, and every stone, pinecone, and stick flew into the air. Metal creaked behind us. I turned to find Daniel leading our army of almost thirty automatons towards us, most marching at a steady pace, some dragging the two catapults that had been hidden deep in the woods. Rocks and pots of Greek fire rocketed across the sky, smashing into the ranks of monsters and lighting the field.

Giants that had recovered picked up the boulders that had been catapulted and launched them back at us. Half a dozen automatons went down from the rocks. The rest of the monsters finally recovered and started slicing at the nymphs and horses. The front lines of the monster army surged forward and attacked the demigods. We hacked and sliced, blocked and countered, but they kept pushing us back slowly. The automatons finally came forward and started fighting, but it still didn't seem like much. Horses started coming back without riders, but some of the demigods jumped on anyway and rode in to fight the advancing flanks. I watched some monsters pick up flaming sticks and rush away from the fight to the camp.

Then the worst part came: I could see my dream happening, all over again. The same roars and screams filled the air. A few brave kids broke from our lines and darted forward to meet the oncoming army. Rocks and Greek fire soared through the air into both armies. Some of the monsters flew around, slashing at our mounted attackers. Three hellhounds leaped forward and buried a demigod. In the distance, I could see the remaining cabins catching fire one at a time as monsters darted around them. The monsters just kept coming forward. We couldn't stop them. For once, Brooke's plan was actually going to fail. We couldn't win this fight, no matter what we did.

I slashed and stabbed at as many monsters as I could, doing my best to ignore the pain that came every time a monster managed to cut into me. Between little skirmishes, I caught sight of fights going on around me. Layne dueled with a pack of hellhounds as vines burst out of the ground around him and engulfed the monsters that came up behind him. A long cut was letting blood fall down his arm and into the grass, but he kept fighting. Fay yelped in pain when an empousa kicked out at her and sent her sprawling to the ground. She landed on her wrist and I heard a loud crack before the demon leapt on her and the pair rolled away. The Ares girls, Alexis and Kaitlyn, fought together, one distracting a monster while the other ran in and stabbed it from behind. Cuts and bruises dotted their arms and faces, but they fought on. Brooke flew in and out of little skirmishes across the field, helping any downed half-bloods that she could reach. Blood soaked her lower left pant leg, but she darted around like it wasn't even there, twirling around and slashing at monsters like a sharpened, kamikaze spinning-top.

But it wasn't enough. I just knew it wouldn't be enough. We were dead, unless Brooke had another trick up her sleeve.

A griffin swooped down and slashed at me. I fell back, tripping in a hole and slamming my head against the ground. I felt blood dripping down my cheek and suddenly grew angry. I stood up as the monster swooped around and flew at me again. My vision flashed red. Before I could control myself, my hand rose into the air in the universal 'stop' signal. The griffin froze midflight. I pressed my hand into a fist and watched the griffin drop like a rock, right onto the raised spear of a hyperborean. A manticore leapt at me with a snarl. I waved my hand in front of my face and watched it fly off to the side with a surprised yowl. I stared at a pack of hounds fighting three demigods. They froze and started looking around frantically. The demigods destroyed them before looking around in confusion, but I'd already moved on. I kept looking up and down the front lines of the monsters, sending some flying off and freezing others for half-bloods to kill.

Then the air went cold. It felt like somebody had taken the universal thermostat and turned it down to zero. Shadows crept across the field as the light dimmed, like somebody had tossed a sheet over the sun. Everyone- monsters, demigods, nymphs, horses, even automatons, stopped fighting and looked around in surprise and fear. The ground started cracking and buckling across the field. I looked over to find Brooke standing close to that empousa she'd talked to, and that same little smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. The air went dry the next second, and I looked up to see all the water in the air gathered in a churning mass above the monsters. Kids backed away from the army slowly, staring in shock at the water. The monsters stood, doing nothing but watching the water. A whinny pierced the silent atmosphere. I glanced past the monsters and almost screamed in joy. Sitting high on two pegasi that had apparently escaped, with massive smirks spread across their faces, were Nick, Alex, and Abby.

"Hope you can swim, suckers!" Nick shouted as he took to the air and the water crashed down on the monsters.

The water surged outward on impact, mixing with the dust of dozens of monsters instantly and throwing the rest off of their feet. A knee-high wave rolled through our ranks and threw most to the ground. The rest fell to their knees or stabbed their weapons into the mud to keep from falling.

I sat up, spitting and sneezing out water and trying to breathe again. I looked up and saw Nick on his pegasus and staring proudly at his handiwork. Alex was cheering on his ride next to Nick. Abby had her arms wrapped around Alex's waist and looked a little scared, but she was still smiling and shouting out encouragements.

Alex finally got control over himself and raised his black sword*****. The cracks in the ground widened and skeletal hands burst out and groped at the air. The dead crawled out of the ground. There had to have been close to a hundred skeletons staggering to their feet, sporting military uniforms from England, France, Spain, and Russia or wearing pioneer outfits. Some were armed with guns, others had swords, and a few even resorted to using picks and axes.

"Tear 'em apart!" Alex shouted with a devilish sneer.

The army surged forward, weaving through shocked demigods and slammed into the monsters. Dust flew into the air and bones snapped across the battle line. The demigods stumbled to their feet and stared in amazement at the scene playing out before them.

I felt the air move above me and turned to find Alex and Abby landing beside me.

"Hey," Alex said breathlessly. "We thought you guys could use some help."

"How'd you get this many without passing out?" I asked.

"He didn't," Abby smirked. Alex shot her a half-hearted glare before answering.

"I raised these guys yesterday," he explained. "Apparently, I knocked out for about ten hours. We just brought them back this morning, but everyone was already gone. We figured you were all fighting and used the tunnels to get the dead out here."

"Well, I'm glad you got here in time," I smiled. Fay ran over with two other kids. They were all beat up, and Fay's left wrist was hanging limply at her side, but they still looked ready to fight.

"Thanks for the help kid, but Brooke said you have to ditch your ride," Fay said. "She wants you on the ground. She said something about you being a sucky flyer. Abby, you're supposed to hang back at the forest's edge with Dalton and Zoe." The two kids nodded to Abby.

"Fine by me," Alex sighed before sliding off. The boy Fay had brought over helped Abby off before pulling her back to woods with the girl tailing them.

"Will they keep her safe?" I asked.

"Dalton's a good shot," Fay smiled, "and Zoe's wicked with that spear. They won't let anything get near her." Then she jumped on the pegasus and launched into the sky, followed by another kid that had gotten on Nick's.

"Well, I guess it's time to fight," Alex said.

"Time to fight?" I asked sarcastically. "Boy, we've been at this for over an hour now. It's been time to fight for a while."

"Well, then I guess it's time to join back in," he smirked, "unless the time princess has something else to add." I huffed good-naturedly and turned back to the fight.

Alex and I darted into the throng of skeletons, weaving through the army until we finally found the monsters. I lost him after that, being too busy with slashing at my own attackers. I ripped through three monsters in one swift arc. Another four exploded into sand when I brought my discus back to me. A hellhound pounced and took me down, but was ripped away by a British skeleton before it could do any damage. I rolled to my feet again and slashed through a dracaenae.

Slowly, we pushed the monster army back until we came to the cabin area. Only four cabins stood relatively unharmed. The rest were slowly burning or already in cinders. I could see dark expressions full of anger, hate, and the need for revenge cross the demigods' faces. About fifty members of Alex's army were left, the nymphs had stayed near the woods, and only a dozen or so automatons stood with us, but it was more than the now ragtag army of about ten monsters. Some of the beasts stared at us with absolute hatred, but most just focused on the ground, as if the shame of losing to a bunch of teenagers was too much for their heads to hold up. Layne walked forward until he was only ten feet from the empousa that had taken command.

"You pathetic worms," she hissed. "You cannot win, not this time."

"I'm pretty sure we already have, witch," somebody called out from our lines.

The empousa cackled in response. "Perhaps this battle, but not this war. We know now how to bring you down. The titans will not be content with waiting too long to attack again."

"You're finished," Layne said calmly. "You've lost today, and you will not be taking our camp anytime soon again. I hope you enjoy your time in Tartarus."

With a growl, the monster leapt, but Layne was ready. He spun around her attack and slashed into her back. Half a dozen arrows cut into the monsters, and the rest fell under a volley of knives and spears. The last of Kronos's monster army fell apart in sand and dust, and blew away in the wind. For a minute, everyone stood still and kept quiet. Finally, a little voice spoke up.

"Is…is it over?" a little girl asked.

No one answered. No one was sure what to say. I didn't get it either. The prophecy had said the victors would win again, but here we were, alive and somewhat well with monster sand blowing all around us.

"And so the prophecy is followed," I heard Brooke say, her voice barely loud enough for us all to hear. "'Success to the victors as before.'"

"But we didn't win the last battle," someone else said.

"No, but we won the last war," Brooke said, and a smile started spreading across her face. "The last time half-bloods faced the titan army, we won. We were the victors. And now, as we were before, we are the victors again. We've won."

Everyone stood in silence. I wasn't sure what was going through their minds: relief, fear, anxiety. Maybe they just thought Brooke's reasoning was crazy and were trying to figure out some other idea. But before anything else was said, Layne thrust his sword to the sky and let out a victory cry. Everyone else joined in, pointing their weapons up and screaming in joy, shouting out over and over again, "We won! We won!"

The celebrating only lasted for about ten minutes, but it had to have been one of the most emotional experiences of my life. Kids just kept screaming at the sky with unwavering force. They found friends and brothers and sisters. They started dancing and jumping around like they'd won the lottery. Some hugged each other and fell to the ground crying, just happy to be alive still. I caught sight of Fay jumping down from her horse and launching herself into Layne's arms with tears streaming down her cheeks. Nick was first to find me. He was grinning and shouting and going on about how he couldn't believe we'd really won. Alex came over a minute later in the same condition. By the time Brooke found us, we were on the ground and laughing almost hysterically over our victory. In no time, she was laughing with us and hugging us all non-stop, like she'd thought she'd never see us again. I didn't care. It had never felt so good to be alive.

Eventually, everyone managed to drag themselves from the brink of insanity and set in to clean up after the fight. I hadn't realized until then just how bad the fight had been. Most of the twenty or so cabins were almost completely destroyed and beyond repair. The rest looked ready to collapse at any moment, and no one wanted to risk a trip inside to see the damage.

Back by the woods, a few Apollo kids were already tending to the wounded. Everybody was covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises. Almost a dozen kids had already been forced by the medics to lie down in the grass from more serious wounds. I'd only spent five minutes on the field before running off to the infirmary to get more supplies, but I'd still managed to count at least four dead demigods. I won't go into detail on that part. Trust me, it wasn't pretty. The rest of the automatons were half-melted, shredded scrap metal spread across the entire field. The edge of the woods was smoking and patches of Greek fire still burned low.

The camp's supplies were really low, too. There was hardly any food left, and whatever was still in the kitchen was stale and starting to stink. The nymphs offered to forage in the woods. The half-bloods didn't seem too enthusiastic though when the dryads brought back pinecones and acorns. Brooke and Nick almost had heart attacks when the naiads offered to go fishing. We all decided to settle with some hard bread and smelly cheese. The Apollo kids had to resort to splinting broken bones, wrapping almost every wound in bandages, and using mortal over-the-counter medicine because they were so low on nectar and ambrosia. And, of course, we'd all be dead if another wave of monsters somehow showed up thanks to our amount of weapons.

"Isn't there anything that we can do?" Fay had pleaded when we first looked over the supplies. "We can't survive on this."

"Well, what did you expect?" Layne asked softly. "Did you think it was just going to start raining food?"

"Wait here," Brooke said. She grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the wrecked bathrooms.

"Why are we in here?" I asked as we climbed over planks of wood and stepped around shattered bathroom appliances.

Brooke just made her way to the showers without answering and turned the hot water faucets in each stall. I was thoroughly surprised to see that the water heaters still worked as the steam started billowing around us. Light filtering through holes in the building touched the steam and threw fait rainbows everywhere. Brooke pulled a drachma out of her pocket and tossed it into the steam.

"O Iris, accept our offering," she said. She opened her mouth to call out a name, then stopped for a moment and smiled. "Monica Hartridge, Camp Half-Blood, New York."

The steam twisted until we were looking at a swirling image of Monica, along with all the others in the mix-blood cabin.

"Monica!" Brooke called excitedly. Monica jumped, picked up the first thing her hand touched (which happened to be a fashion magazine), and spun around with huge eyes. Brooke broke down laughing at the sight of her.

"Brooke!" Monica whined, tossing the magazine on her bed. "What was that for?"

"Yeah, Brooke, you scared the poor Barbie doll," Charlotte teased, throwing an innocent look on her face and batting her eyes at Monica.

"At least she didn't toss her popcorn across the cabin," Zach said, covering for Monica and picking pieces of popcorn up off the ground.

"You're going to clean that up, right?" Brooke asked expectantly.

"Sure," Charlotte said sheepishly after a moment. Brooke rolled her eyes, but she smiled anyway.

"Man, I can't believe you guys are still alive," Caleb said, walking into view of the message.

"What, did you think we were really going to die?" I asked.

"Uh, well um, I uh…" he stammered.

"He's just glad you guys are alright," Monica supplied, eyeing Caleb before looking back at us. "We all are."

"Where are you?" Zach asked, looking around strangely at the trashed bathroom.

"Girls' bathroom at the camp," Brooke answered.

"Wow, that place is…" Charlotte trailed. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we know," Brooke said, glancing back at our ruined surroundings. "The rest of the camp is pretty bad, too."

"Yeah, this place could definitely use an extreme makeover," I agreed.

"Yeah, demigod edition," Caleb tried joking. I snorted a little and the others chuckled. Brooke smiled again and shook her head.

"So, why did you call us?" Zach asked. "I thought messages weren't going in and out of there because of the monsters."

"They weren't," I smirked.

"We fixed that though," Brooke said as a smug grin spread across her face.

"Wait, you guys actually got the camp back?" Charlotte's eyes went wide with disbelief.

"Heck yeah, we did," I said proudly.

"But it's bad here," Brooke added, effectively killing the last shred of happiness left in the conversation. "The camp is low on everything. I doubt these guys will last even a week if they don't get help soon."

"Then why did you call us?" Monica asked. "You should've contacted Chiron, or your parents."

"I know, but I figured you'd guys would be worried about us."

"And you thought your parents wouldn't be?"

"Well-." The building creaked and groaned like it was going to buckle. "Crap. Okay, listen to me, guys. We have enough food to last about two or three days if we're careful. We're almost completely out of nectar and ambrosia and other medical stuff. We need every basic thing you could think of out here. Tell my parents and Chiron, okay? Ship everything as fast as you can, and tell them we need a total rebuild out here. I don't know when we'll be able to make contact again or when we'll get back, but I promise, it'll be soon." The building groaned again and bits of plaster started falling.

"Brooke we have to go," I warned, although it sounded more like begging when I said it. Brooke glanced up before shoving me toward the door.

"We'll be home soon," she called over her shoulder. I barely heard the others shouting out goodbyes over the noise.

We practically face-planted onto the ground trying to get out the door. The building crashed down within seconds of us getting out. Brooke and I sat on the grass, breathing hard and staring at the wreckage. I heard people shouting and looked over my shoulder. A few kids were racing toward us. I looked at Brooke, who was covered in dust and a few new scratches, but otherwise unharmed.

"We really need to learn how to keep this close call stuff to a minimum," I said between breaths. Brooke just glanced at me and smiled.

For two days, the demigods of California slept on a bloody battlefield, ate hard and tasteless bread, and stared at their camp in anger and overwhelming sadness. Then the first pegasi arrived. Only two came, but their loads were well worth their small group. After about a week in that place of eating next to nothing, I was ready to jump on those pegasi while they were still flying and just tear into every ounce of food they were carrying. But of course, the sickest and littlest guys got the food first. I didn't mind, especially when another group showed up the next day.

Brooke, Nick, Alex, and I spent another four days in the camp, tending to the wounded, distributing food, and dragging the remains of the camp to the new bonfire. Abby helped keep the younger kids calm or entertained, whichever was needed at the moment. I was surprised at how well she was handling everything. As a half-blood, I was kind of freaking out, but she was perfectly fine with what was going on. When the first five Cyclopes showed up with supplies to start rebuilding the camp, Brooke decided we had to leave.

"Are you sure?" Layne asked.

Brooke had gotten our group to pack up earlier that morning. She said that we were done and that it was time to go. It was weird though. I didn't feel like I was done yet. I felt like we were still missing something.

"Positive," Brooke smiled back at him. "We've done all that we can here. We have to go home eventually."

"Well, at least take some of the supplies we have here," Fay insisted. "You guys are going to need some for that trip back."

"You guys don't have a lot of supplies still," Nick stepped in. "We can fend for ourselves out there. Besides, it'll be easier to supply for four kids than thirty. Keep the stuff. We'll manage to stay alive." He threw in a nice smile at the end.

"Actually," someone said, "this is for you guys." I turned and saw Alexis standing behind us, her big, bright eyes making her as cute as ever. She was holding a package the size of large lunchbox. "There was a note on this when we pulled it off the pegasi. It said it was for your trip home." She held the box out for us to see.

Alex took the box and cut through the duct tape to look inside. A smile lit up his face as he overturned the box. A wad of cash, sandwiches, fruit snacks, granola bars, packs of dried fruit, nut packets, and even a few chocolate bars tumbled onto the grass. Brooke picked up the box and looked at the note taped to its side. She smiled and shook her head.

"We can thank our cabin buddies for this," she explained.

"Dude, they loaded us!" Nick exclaimed, staring at the pile of food. "Wait a second. Crap! Now we owe them."

"How is that bad?" I asked.

"We've owed them before," Alex said. "With that group, owing favors can be dangerous."

"Last time we owed them, I walked around school looking like an idiot for two weeks," Nick grumbled.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Monica basically turned us into her styling dolls over fall break," Alex explained.

"Then don't ask her to swipe the shampoo bottles from the Aphrodite kids next time," Brooke grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nick waved her off.

"It was almost worth Monica's experiments to pull that one off though," Alex sighed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to get caught up in their pranks," Brooke said. "They end up almost as bad as the Stolls did."

"That means we're a step ahead of them though," Alex smiled.

"Yeah, because they tell you two all of their screw-ups so you don't do the same things they did."

Brooke divided up the food between us four and shoved the money in her pocket. We stuffed the food into our bags and got up. I said goodbye to Layne, Alexis, and Fay, trying to avoid wrapping around any wounds when I hugged them. I called Abby over. She said bye to a few kids before skipping over with Laelaps at her heels.

"I can't believe she still has that mangy mutt," Brooke grumbled good-naturedly.

Half-bloods, Cyclopes, nymphs, and some satyrs waved at us the whole way out of the camp. Brooke had decided we could take a nice hike through the woods and back into Big Lagoon to drop off Abby. To be honest, I think she was really just trying to avoid the Labyrinth, even though it was quicker. I didn't blame her. After this quest, monsters would probably hate us as much as they hated some of the adults.

We spent a few hours hiking the six or seven miles into town. I thought we would've just dropped off Abby and left to get back home, but Brooke decided to treat us to lunch. We went to the diner across the street from the Victorian house with the Labyrinth entrance. Abby called over a waitress that she apparently knew and ordered us all cheeseburgers. Let's just say that those burgers were so good, I wanted to lick the food baskets they came in. Then again, I had just spent over a week in a devastated camp with almost no food. I probably would have settled with eating the patty before they'd even cooked it if I was hungry enough.

After lunch, we took Abby back home where her father practically blew up in our faces for twenty seconds before picking Abby up and swinging her around like a princess. Abby invited us in to stay and have dinner. Surprisingly, Brooke took the invitation. We had lasagna that night, which was really good, and played a few board games to humor Abby, even though they were fun to play. As nice as it was though, I wanted to get a move on and get home. I felt like I was turning into Brooke with the way that I wanted to keep moving, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't shake the feeling from back at the camp. Something was wrong. We weren't done yet, and I knew it. I finally got Brooke to agree to leave around seven o'clock and catch a train from the local station. I hugged Abby and thanked her dad before following the others out the door.

"We should do stuff like this more often," Nick said.

"Uh, no way in Hades," I said. "I would much rather experience a normal summer at camp than do this again, at least any time in the near future." I heard someone calling out my name and stopped.

Brooke looked back behind us and said, "I think that's Abby."

Confused, I walked back down the street toward Abby. She was sprinting to me and shouting out desperately. When she reached me, she was gasping for air.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. She mumbled something between breaths, but I couldn't make it out. "What was that?" Abby suddenly stood perfectly straight and still, staring blankly at nothing. I waved my hand in front of her eyes, but froze a second later. Her eyes had started glowing faintly. Her hands flashed out and grabbed my raised arm. Her nails dug into my skin as she started talking in a weird voice.

"You are not finished, Krystol," she hissed. It was like listening to an echo when Abby, or whatever had control of her, spoke. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I was too busy freaking out to pay attention. "This quest still has a path to follow, and you have an even longer path before you, child. This quest is not done, nor are you. There is still much left to your story, though this chapter is nearly complete. Just remember what you were told: life is never fair." Abby finally let go of my arm and her head lolled forward so she was staring at the ground. After a few seconds, she looked back up at me. Her eyes were normal again, but filled with tears.

"I saw it," she whispered in her normal voice. "I saw the end."

"What?" I asked. Abby wiped away her tears and pushed me away.

"Go away. Get out of here, Krystol. It's not safe."

"What's not safe?"

"I can't tell you. Just go away. You have to fight it. You can't let it happen."

"Can't let _what_ happen?"

"I can't tell you. They won't let me. Just don't let it happen. Don't stop at all. Just go back to your camp, fast. You're already in trouble. Go!" Abby shoved me down the street a few feet before turning and running back home.

I heard Brooke calling my name and walked back to her, my mind swirling with everything Abby had said. What had she been talking about? What did I have to fight? I couldn't think of an answer. My mind was in numb shock. I walked down the street without paying attention, just following the others like a zombie as every fiber in my body filled with dread. I'd just spent about two weeks dealing with monsters and trying not to die, but that wasn't the end. As much as I wanted to ignore it, something told me that the real trouble hadn't even started yet.

**AN: Yay, another one done, even though it was kind of short. I know you guys were probably really looking forward to that battle, and I'm sorry if it didn't live up to your expectations. I'm not the greatest action writer, but I'm working on it. I still hope you guys enjoyed it though and keep reading to the end. I think you guys are really going to like it if I ever get there, or it'll at least keep you hooked. Okay, so I've probably rambled on more than long enough, so I'll just go ahead and end it and let you guys wait X amount of weeks for the next chapter. :) R&R please.**


	19. We Meet Daddy's Little Pet

**Chapter 19: We Meet Daddy's Little Pet**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

The wad of cash that we got apparently had summed up to about a fifteen-hundred dollars. Brooke bought us four second-class tickets on the first train out of town. Her mind must have come back from celebrating at some point because she got tickets that would only take us as far as Chicago. She said it would be safer to switch trains or something, just in case we were being tracked or something was chasing us. The boys didn't really care, so long as they got food and didn't have to sleep in alleys or sewers. I just wanted to get home alive and in one piece.

It was supposed to be a three-day trip to Chicago. I personally thought that Brooke had picked a ride that was too slow, but she said we'd done our job and could relax a little. I guess it was true that this was her quest, and given her seniority over me, I really had no righto fight over how we moved. Still, I couldn't shake that feeling that something bad was going to happen.

"Okay, what's up?" Brooke asked me.

It was about seven o'clock on the second day. I was sitting in a seat next to Brooke and leaning my head on the window. I'd been zoning out as the sunset turned the clear sky into a rainbow of reds, oranges, and pinks when she'd spoken up.

"Um, just watching the sunset," I mumbled without looking up. "I've never seen a sunset like this in New York City."

"Yeah, but you've been really quiet since we left the camp," Brooke added. "Something's wrong. Is this still about the length of the ride?"

"Maybe she's just stiff or feels like crap from sleeping against a window instead of in a bed," Nick teased from the seat in front of us.

"I said I'd buy us a trip in private cars after Chicago," Brooke countered. "We might have money now, but that doesn't mean we need to spend it like a bunch of snobby heiresses or something. Besides, it's not even our money."

"But they _did_ send it to us to use," Alex said, turning around to look at us. "And you're the one who said we could kick back since we finished the quest."

"Don't start using my own words on me," Brooke smiled. She reached over and pushed him a little as the train rounded a sharp turn, making Alex lose his balance and topple into the aisle.

"Hey!" he shouted, lunging at Brooke with a grin. Brooke let out a playful squeak and tried to push him away. The other three passengers in our car huffed and grumbled, grabbed their bags, and left the car.

"Good job, guys," Nick said, grinning as he turned in his seat. "You just emptied our train car."

"Well that just means that we get a whole car to ourselves and can do whatever we want without listening to adults," Alex shrugged, pulling away from Brooke.

"Don't you do that on a regular basis?" Brooke joked.

"Of course he does," Nick said, eyeing Alex. "How else would he have been able to hit on all those ghost babes?"

"That's it!" Alex jumped on Nick. They fell into the aisle and started wrestling with each other. Brooke jumped up and, between laughs, tried to pull them apart, but ended up joining in.

Sighing, I grabbed my backpack and moved to the back of the train. I pulled out a pack of Gummy Worms that I'd bought at the train station and, using my bag as a pillow, propped my head against the window. I watched the plains of Iowa disappear into the night. At some point, the other three had settled back into the train seats and gone quiet. Eventually, I fell asleep listening to the hum of the train.

_So, you have chosen to betray me?_ somebody asked.

A scene came into view, and I almost screamed. I was stuck standing on the edge of Tartarus, staring straight into the endless abyss.

_This certainly is not one of you wisest decisions_ Kronos mocked.

_What do you want?_ I growled.

_Preferably your death, but I think you and your so-called friends may prove to be a decent and much needed…challenge._

I could just imagine Kronos sneering up at me. The malice and contempt in his voice was so thick it felt like it was smothering me.

_What are you talking about?_ I asked, hearing the nervousness in my dream voice.

_Why would I tell you? That would ruin the little surprise I've planned for you._

_Oh please. You can't actually do anything. You're stuck in a pit. You can't even drag your useless self out of there without the help of low-life monsters who fail half the time._

I could almost feel my blood boiling, even though it was just a dream. It probably wasn't a smart idea to insult Kronos, but I didn't care. I was sick of him, and it was time to let him have a piece of my mind.

_Do you have any idea how useless you are? Do you have any idea of how much you screwed up everything around me? My mom lost everything because of you. You imprisoned us in some casino, and when we came out, we had nothing. We have barely managed to scratch out and hold onto a decent life. You ignored me for years. You left me at the mercy of the gods. Almost the entire camp turned on me because of you. You tried to have me killed. You acted like I was your slave. And you still wanted me to serve you!_

_Are you done yet? _I could hear the mockery and pleasure layered thick in his voice, like he wanted nothing more than to mess with me.

_No, I'm not done! You are the lowest, foulest creature to ever walk the earth. You have done nothing but destroy every decent part of life since you were born. You are a vile, cruel monster, and you deserve to rot for eternity._

Kronos's sinister laugh filled the cavern.

_Your ranting will get you nowhere_ he snarled. _And your anger only fuels the evil around you._

_Shut up!_

I could feel a heaviness settling down on me, growing stronger each second. It felt like a hand was wrapping itself around me. I couldn't breathe. I felt myself being pulled toward the pit. My toes went over the edge, and I started falling into the abyss.

I woke up screaming and flailing. Hands latched onto my arms and pinned them down. Somebody started yelling my name and another hand clamped down on my mouth. I opened my eyes. Brooke was sitting next to me and was holding my arms. Alex was leaning over the seat in front of me. I glanced up and found Nick standing in the seat behind me and covering my mouth.

"Are you done?" Nick asked. I nodded ad he let go.

"Nightmare?" Brooke asked.

I shrugged. "It's nothing I haven't had before."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Brooke looked at me blankly, but the concern was showing in her eyes. She dropped her eyes after a few moments.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"8:40," I answered automatically.

"We'll be in Chicago around noon," she sighed, getting up and walking to the front of the car. The boys edged away slowly to a seat in the middle of the train.

We rode in silence until we hit Chicago. The station was crowded, loud, and probably could've used about a million of those car fresheners. Never had I loved something like this so much. After being out of the big cities for so long, I'd have given just about anything to get back into the middle of the mortal chaos.

We pushed our way through the station and out onto the street. Cars honked and raced down the road. Rain drizzled down from dark grey clouds that casted a shadow over the city. I felt a chill run down my spine, and the air seemed to drop twenty degrees. Judging by the fact that they froze and started looking around, I assumed the others had felt it too.

"Um, let's get out of here," Brooke said, her eyes darting back and forth as she walked down the sidewalk. "We look like freaks just standing around in the rain. Who wants lunch?"

"Let's go to McDonald's," Nick said, moving after Brooke.

"I am not eating that processed, fake crap that they try to pass off as food," Brooke snapped.

"You ate Taco Bell," Alex pointed out.

"Yeah. And why do you hate McDonald's so much?" Nick asked.

"Why do you like it so much?" Brooke countered. Nick snorted and shook his head, but smiled anyway at his sister.

We ended up at Subway, though nobody really ate. The chill back at the station seemed to have killed any appetite we had. The boys talked on about video games, sports, pranks, and other guy things that really weren't overly interesting. Brooke and I mostly kept quiet. She seemed to be lost in thought as she stared at the table and traced over it with her finger aimlessly. After an hour, Brooke finally decided to head back to the station.

By the time we got back, all four of us were soaked and the rain was only coming down harder. Brooke bought us one sleeper car to New Brunswick, New Jersey. We would've gotten two, but Brooke was having trouble convincing the mortals and talking down the price, so just one car pretty much wiped us clean of money. To make things worse, we had to wait two hours before the train was ready to leave.

Brooke and I sat alone on a bench in the station. The boys were off at a vending machine with change they'd managed to find on the ground. After a few minutes, I plucked up the courage to start a conversation with Brooke.

"So," I began, "why are you so quiet now?"

She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes before sighing and looking down again.

"I was trying to keep it quiet to avoid freaking you guys out," she admitted. "That feeling you've had since we left the camp, the one about something being wrong? I've had it since we left Abby's house. I was hoping I could brush it off as nerves, but I can't. And it's only grown."

"Then…why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged. "Like I said, I didn't want to freak anybody out. You guys deserved a break after all of this."

"I think I'd rather take my break in the camp. At least we're safe there." I tried to play it off as a joke and flashed a smile at Brooke. She just let out a breath and her shoulders sagged, which wiped the smile off of my face.

"I need to tell you something," I admitted after a few minutes. "I had a dream last night."

"You mean the woke up screaming from?" Brooke mumbled, staring at the ground dejectedly.

"Yeah, that one."

"What about it?"

"I think Kronos might be cha-." Brooke threw her hand over my mouth midsentence and looked around wildly.

"Didn't I tell you not to say names out here?"

_I don't know, but I don't exactly hang on to you every word, so it's possible _I thought. Figuring that an answer like that might get slapped, I just shrugged. Sighing, she dropped her hand and nodded for me to explain.

By the time I'd finished, the boys were back and had caught most of the story.

"Well," Nick started, "it probably wasn't the greatest idea to scream at him like that."

"Really? I told you the whole dream, and that's the first thing you could think of?" I asked. Nick smiled a little and shrugged.

"What do you think, Brooke?" Alex asked.

"I think we're in serious trouble," she said bluntly.

"Wow, Brooke, sugarcoat it much?" Nick asked sarcastically, trying for another smile.

"Stop it, Nick. This isn't a time for games. If her dream is right, then the titans aren't finished with us."

"Alright, don't snap at me," he scowled. "I'm just trying to kill the stress a bit. Besides, the titans are still locked up. They can't touch us."

"_They_ can't, but that doesn't mean they can't send something after us."

"Like what?" Alex asked. "We pretty much destroyed their army."

"There are worse things than a few snakes, giants, and dogs, Alex," she said darkly, "much worse."

We sat in silence for a little over an hour before the train pulled into the station. Brooke grabbed her bag and stalked up the train steps without looking back, her mind obviously busy thinking of something. Nick followed after a few moments, still looking kind of gloomy. Alex and I sat on the bench for a few more minutes, saying nothing as we watched other passengers get on. Finally, Alex turned to me, his eyes wide and filled with traces of what looked like fear.

"What do you think they'll send?" he asked

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was talking about, and the same question was running through my head. Part of me had wanted to even ask him, completely ignoring the fact that he was ten.

I sighed and looked at him. "I don't know," I said, shaking my head.

The world raced past as the train sped forward. I was sitting on one of the two beds in the car, staring out the window at the blurred view.

"This ride should take about a day and a half," Brooke explained. "Once we hit Jersey, we move out immediately. I say we catch a taxi from the station to Manhattan, and then pick up another one. I think there's a town about ten or so miles from the camp. We can take a taxi out to there and walk back to camp. We know the area well enough that we can stick to the woods and keep the mortals from getting involved, and we can change taxis as many times as we have to. Does that sound good to you guys?"

"As long as I don't become monster chow, I'm good," Alex said.

"Sounds good to me," Nick agreed. "Krys?"

"I don't care," I mumbled. "If it gets us to camp, I'll go." I was slowly starting to believe what all the dreams and Abby had told me. This quest wasn't over. Something told me that nothing had changed. We were still going to fail somehow.

After a little over an hour, Nick brought up what I hadn't had the guts to say for days.

"So, what's up with the last prophecy line?" he asked. Brooke, who'd been sitting next to me and staring out the window, turned her head slowly to look at him.

"Let's just leave that be," Brooke said.

"Why? It has to happen at some point, and you know it."

"Maybe not yet."

"Come on, Brooke. What prophecy plays out, and then decides to wait for a few years, or even months, to finish just one line?"

"Maybe this one will."

"Brooke, please, we have to face this eventually."

"No we don't."

"Why don't you want to talk about this?" Nick was starting to get exasperated.

"Because, if we face this, that means we'd have no choice but to admit it exists. If we admit that the line exists, then we have to admit that it's supposed to happen. If we admit that, then we have to accept that it will happen. And if we accept that, then that means we have to accept that some poor Aphrodite kid will have to pay the ultimate price for a quest that doesn't even involve them."

"But-."

"No. I'm not going to just accept that some kid is condemned to die and that there's nothing I can do about it. That's not fair, Nick."

"Who said anything about it being fair? You know life isn't fair! You tell me that every time I use that argument!"

"Letting a kid die isn't unfair, Nick. It's cruel, vicious. It's something a titan would do, and last time I checked, I wasn't a titan. What about you?"

I gasped a little and glanced over to Alex. He looked like he was in as much shock as I was about the fight. He looked to me for a second before looking to Nick, waiting for an answer. It was clear Brooke's words had stung him. He stared in complete disbelief at his sister, his eyes glued to her hard face. He pursed his lips and closed his eyes, dropping his head toward the ground.

"Fine," he whispered in a voice that could barely be heard. "You win. But just tell me this, what's crueler, Brooke: telling a kid they're destined to die," he looked up at Brooke and opened his eyes that were now filling slowly with water, "or making them believe they're safe and having the servant be the last thing they ever see?"

Nick turned away before Brooke could answer and walked into the car's bathroom. I heard the lock click in the door behind him. I looked to Brooke and found her hard face had softened into a vulnerable, uncertain expression. She grabbed for her bag at the foot of the bed, pulled out our remaining cash, and moved for the main door.

"I'm going to find a food cart for dinner tonight," she said, her voice quivering. She sounded like she would break down crying any second. "I'll be back later."

Brooke didn't come back for eight hours, and nobody ate the food she'd brought. It was almost eleven at night at that point, and we weren't really hungry anymore. Nick hadn't even come out of the bathroom until ten o'clock. Alex and I had decided that he and Nick could have the first watch. He was hoping to be able to talk Nick back to his normal self and that I could get Brooke back in line with herself. Well, and I think we were both just hoping another fight wouldn't break out between the two.

The ride passed slowly. Brooke and Nick hardly even looked at one another, and Alex and I weren't exactly putting any effort out to get them to speak. Nick mostly stared out the window, sat in the corners, and generally tried to keep away from everyone. Brooke took every opportunity she could to get out of the car. On the bright side, no one had managed to have another nightmare since my last, and it didn't seem like anything was following us. I was so happy when we finally stopped and could get off the train into the noisy crowded station. I just couldn't take the silence anymore.

Alex and I dragged Brooke and Nick through the station to a little pizza place. I pulled Brooke to the counter while Alex and Nick went to find a table. Brooke and I looked over the menu, though Brooke didn't really pay attention to it. Not knowing what everyone liked, I just ordered a pepperoni pizza for us to share. I dug the money out of Brooke's bag, and she didn't even react to me. When I went to pay the guy at the counter, he just smiled and pushed the money back to me.

"Consider it as a special deal for half-bloods," he whispered, sliding the pizza box toward me. I thanked him and pushed Brooke along to where the boys were.

We had another silent meal. All of us ate like wolves, though, hardly even tasting the food. The pizza was gone in minutes. We sat at the table for ten minutes. Brooke and Nick kept their heads down. Alex and I kept looking back and forth between them and everything around us. I was about to start screaming that we'd have to talk eventually when Brooke sighed and looked up.

"Look, Nick," she started, "I'm sorry about-."

"Don't bother," he cut her off. "It doesn't matter anymore. Let's just get back to camp." He pushed away from the table, grabbed his bag, and walked out into the main station again. Alex scrambled after him. Brooke dropped her head. She picked up her bag after a few seconds and walked back with me.

We came out onto a busy street. The boys had already hailed a taxi and were waiting for us. It was another silent ride with Brooke and Nick sitting on opposite ends of the seat. We made it to Manhattan without any incidents. Brooke paid the driver and we got out.

The road was congested with traffic. The smell of gas was heavy in the air and horns blared constantly. People shoved past us on their way to where ever. Apartment buildings and skyscrapers towered over us. Yep, I was definitely back in New York.

"Let's keep moving," Brooke mumbled.

She wove her way expertly through the crowds, sometimes being as pushy as everyone around us. We all followed without a problem. Eventually, we came to the Empire State Building. Brooke paused there and gazed up at the sky.

"I hope they're satisfied," Alex said.

"Who knows," Nick sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "It's hard to tell anything with the gods."

"Well, as long as they aren't trying to kill me, I'm good," I tried joking.

"You live nearby, don't you?" Brooke asked me.

"A few blocks away."

"You want to go home, maybe see your mom?"

I was tempted to say yes. My mom had freaked out pretty bad when she'd found out I was at Camp Half-Blood. I could only imagine how she'd react if she knew I'd been on a quest. Besides, we weren't done yet, and I was taught to finish what I started. Something told me she'd want me to go on back to camp anyway, and something else told me we'd be better off not stopping.

"No, it's fine. I'll see her at the end of summer. Let's just finish this thing up. Then I might actually get a decent night's sleep in a real bed."

Brooke ignored my joking and flagged down another taxi. She loaded us all in and the guy took off.

"Where to, kids?" the driver asked.

"Just drive toward the north tip," Brooke told him. "We'll say when we want out." With that, she closed the glass window between us and the driver and squished herself against the door.

We drove for an hour through the city, moving at what felt like the speed of a snail. About a half-mile from the edge of the city, Nick sat up straight. Brooke glanced over at him with a curious face. He nodded his head toward the door. Brooke opened up the glass partition and told the driver to stop.

"You sure, kid? You're still in the city," he said.

"I know, but we're good here. Thanks." She tossed a wad of cash onto the seat next to the driver and pulled me out of the taxi.

"What'd you see?" Brooke asked as she walked down the street and looked for another taxi.

"There was a car that's been tailing us for about three miles," Nick said.

"So? That doesn't mean anything," I said.

"Considering that it almost ran over about twenty people, nearly rammed five or six cars, moved into whatever lane we were in, and ran about fifteen red lights, I'd say it was following us."

"Good eye," Brooke told him. "Let's keep moving before they have time to turn around and find us." Brooke led us through the crowds again, every once in a while moving toward the street to look for a new ride. She managed to pull one over after ten minutes.

The driver rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "Got money, kids?" she asked gruffly.

"We wouldn't be hailing a taxi if we didn't," Nick answered curtly.

The lady smirked and looked us up and down quickly. "Get in then."

"There's your ride," Nick nodded to Brooke.

"Oh yes," she smiled, "where would we be without your ability to sass back at any New York driver."

Nick shrugged at her. "I think they appreciate a kid with a bit of attitude," he answered, cracking a small smile. Well, at least they weren't fighting anymore.

The taxi took us about twenty miles further before Brooke told her we wanted out. We walked along the side of the road, looking for another taxi. The traffic wasn't as bad out here, and most of the crowds had dwindled to small groups of people, probably just tourists and those who lived on the outskirts. It took longer to pick up a ride, but we finally got one willing to take us further north.

After an hour and a half, Brooke pulled us out of the taxi again and had us walking down the road. At this point, we were out in the more rural areas of Long Island. The sidewalks had disappeared miles ago, forcing us to walk through the nearly knee-high grass on the side of the road. A few cars whooshed past us now and then, most heading toward the city, but the road was usually deserted.

"Are we going to even find a taxi out this far?" Alex asked.

"Krys, what time is it?" Brooke asked.

"2:53," I answered.

"There should still be some taxis going through here then. If not, I'm sure we can manage sleeping in the woods. It's not like we haven't done it plenty of times already."

After another half-hour, we managed to wave down another taxi that'd been heading for the city. The guy had grumbled at first about having to drive back out to nothing, but changed his mind as soon as Brooke pulled out our money. We rode for another hour along the barren road, mostly keeping quiet. We eventually came to a small town that I didn't know the name of. Brooke paid the driver and we got out at a gas station.

"What now?" Nick asked when Brooke came back from looking at a map taped to the front of the station store.

"We're a little under twenty miles from camp still," she said. "We can buy some fresh food from the store and get in a few more miles before the sun sets on us."

"Sounds decent," Alex said, "but does this mean we'll be sleeping on leaves tonight?"

"Unless you'd rather walk all night long, yes."

"So we don't really have a comfort choice for tonight?"

"No," Brooke said. "We'll just have to get over it. Besides we're almost home." Grumbling, I got up and followed Brooke and the boys into the store.

We covered about ten miles at what felt like a back-breaking pace to me, but the others seemed fine, so I tried to act like the walk had been nothing. Brooke must've guessed I was sore and tired, though, and took the first watch for herself. She said the boys and I could sleep and she'd switch off after a few hours. Too tired to even thank her, I threw off my bag and fell asleep against it.

My vision cleared up and I found myself in a forest with tall grass and towering trees. A small herd of deer leaped past me. Birds in almost every tree took to the sky in one giant mass of feathers. Rabbits raced across the ground, kicking up pine needles behind them. The woods came to life as animals scattered everywhere. Human voices exploded from somewhere in desperate shouts. A guttural roar erupted, causing whatever animals hadn't moved to flee into the forest. The human voices grew louder and a bit more distinct. It sounded like a group of kids. They were yelling at each other, but I couldn't make out if their voices were familiar or not. It took me a second to realize I'd already seen at least part of this in one of my dreams in California. Kids rushed forward from behind me, disappearing into the trees as quickly as they'd come, making it impossible to get a good look at them. The tall shadow fell across me again. Another roar pierced the air, and it took me a second to realize that it belonged to whoever owned the shadow. I wanted to turn around again, but the dream moved on.

I was back on the grassy hill I'd dreamt up. A jaw-rattling explosion rocked the hill. Somebody screamed in anguish, but I couldn't move to see who. Another scream, this one filled with pain, pierced the air. That was followed closely by crying, the kind that couldn't be fixed with gentle words and caring people. The dream started fading out, and I just barely caught a glimpse of a massive pine tree at the top of the hill.

My eyes snapped open. The sun hadn't quite risen over the horizon yet, and the sky was a pretty grey-pink color. Nick was sitting propped up against a tree trunk and wide awake. Brooke and Alex weren't anywhere to be seen.

"Where'd the others go?" I asked groggily, sitting up slowly and rubbing at my eyes. I hadn't realized how badly the dream had scared me until I felt my hands shaking against my face.

"They're out scouting around," Nick answered. "Brooke was roaming around earlier and found some weird tracks. She took Alex with her to get a better look at them. She asked me to stay and keep an eye out for anything. We're supposed to pack up and be ready to go when they get back."

"She didn't take you with her instead?"

Nick just shrugged, though he did look a little bummed out. "She said she thought it'd be better to have Alex with her on this one."

I couldn't really think of a way to answer him. If the tables had been turned, I figured I'd be at least a little disappointed if Brooke had left me behind. I ate a peanut butter sandwich that was a little stale, then set to picking up the few supplies we'd pulled out.

Brooke and Alex came back about fifteen minutes after I'd woken up. Brooke looked a bit shaken and scared, but Alex, with a pale face and blank eyes, looked traumatized. Nick immediately jumped up and moved toward them.

"What'd you find out there?" he demanded. Brooke moved past him without a word. Alex stopped in front of him, but just stared at the ground.

"Let's go," Brooke said shortly, swinging her bag onto her back and grabbing Alex's pack. She moved toward Alex and forced his hand to grip the bag, whispering something to him that I couldn't make out.

Brooke turned and walked back to Nick's bag. Scooping it up, she threw it to Nick, grabbed my bag and tossed it to me, then moved at a brisk pace into the woods. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I watched Nick lead Alex forward.

"What'd you find out there?" Nick asked again, trying to keep quiet as he followed after Brooke. Alex shook his head.

"I don't know," he whispered hollowly. "They were the creepiest tracks I've ever seen. There was death there, too, around every footprint. I could feel it, and evil. There was a lot of evil. Even a mortal would've been able to feel it."

Nick looked at me questioningly. I shrugged at him. I didn't know what was out there anymore than he did. Nick pushed us along until we caught up with Brooke. He tried questioning her, too, but got even less than he did with Alex. Brooke only pushed on in silence at a faster pace than yesterday, sometimes even slipping into a little jog for a few minutes.

Around noon, Nick stopped in a clearing and refused to keep moving.

"Nick, we have to keep moving," Brooke insisted.

"No, not until you tell us what you saw," he snapped back. "Or at least take a break and eat something. You're going to run us into the ground here."

"Nick-."

"No, Brooke." He sat down and leaned back on a rock. "We've already covered about fifteen miles in…Krys, how long has it been since we started moving?"

"A little under five hours," I answered quietly, not wanting to get caught in one of their fights.

"See?" Nick started. "We've made great time at your breakneck pace. Take a breather and chill out, okay?"

"We should keep going," Alex said. He'd been so quiet that I'd almost forgotten he was there.

"What?" Nick said, sounding more confused than angry. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Nick, whatever made those tracks isn't something I want to meet. There was a seriously messed up aura around those prints."

"See? Nick, we have to keep moving," Brooke pleaded.

"No," Nick said firmly. "I'm hungry, and I know the rest of you are. I'm staying here and eating my lunch, unless you have any information to share."

Brooke opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and closed it, staring at Nick in anger. I was ready to start screaming again at the two when my own impulses took over. I realized that I wanted just as bad as Nick to find out what Brooke knew about the tracks. I was even more shocked to find that I was actually willing to sit there in an open field and stall the quest just to get Brooke to tell us. Shrugging, I sat down and pulled some food out of my bag. Brooke looked at me in total shock.

"What?" I snapped. "I'm on his side. I thought we were done hiding stuff on this quest."

"Guys, come on," Brooke begged. "What if we slowed down some, ate lunch along the way, and I'll explain as we walk." She looked really desperate. I glanced to Nick.

"Fine," he sighed. "But I'm setting the pace."

"As long as it's not too slow." Nick looked at Brooke with a raised eyebrow and annoyed expression. "Nick."

"Fine, I won't walk like a snail." He pulled out a bag of fruit snacks and stood up. "Let's go." Nick walked off at about half the speed Brooke was going. Alex glanced at Brooke, and she looked to me desperately. I got up without a word and walked after Nick, feeling like I had just helped make the worst decision of this entire quest.

Brooke and Alex trudged through the woods just ahead of Nick and me, trying to stay close but still make us move faster.

"Alright, time to spill, sis," Nick said, biting into a sandwich.

Brooke sighed and dropped back into line with Nick. "What do you want to know?"

"Really? I got mad at you for not telling us about the tracks, and now you're asking what I want to know about. Are you serious, Brooke?"

Brooke ran her hand through her hair and tugged at the straps of her backpack. "Okay, I've never actually seen these tracks before, but I do know a pair of monster feet that could match them."

"Okay, what monster then?"

A look of pure fear crossed Brooke's face. For once she actually looked like she was out of her league. I'm sure she'd felt it on the quest at some point, but she'd never let it shine through. Now I understood why Alex had said he didn't want to meet whatever made the tracks and why Brooke wanted to hurry back to camp. They weren't faking anything, and whatever they were hiding had probably been hidden for our benefit. If she was openly terrified, I really didn't want to know what was coming.

"Brooke?" Nick said with concern when she didn't answer.

"I _will_ explain," she promised in a shaky voice. "Just let me make a quick call and pick up the pace, big time." Brooke pulled a cellphone out of her pocket and started jogging.

"Mom?" Brooke said into the phone. "Okay, trust me, this is an emergency. All of those Aphrodite kids? I need you to get them into the Big House…Mom, believe me on this one…It's just a precaution…I told you, there's an emergency…Okay…Oh, Mom, could you, like, post three or four guards at the entrance, and then add a few at every window? Oh, if you can, you should also get people to patrol the hallways and, uh, it'd be really nice if all of the adults could stay with them…I know you guys have jobs, but…yeah, I know the entire camp shouldn't be stopped for a precaution and all…Mom, please, I need you to do this for me…Mommy…"

I moved closer to Nick and gasped, "Is it just me, or does she have weird conversations with your mom?" He just shrugged and sped up to keep up with Brooke's ever-increasing pace.

Brooke kept on talking to Annabeth. "I know you do a lot already, but just help me here…Please…Okay, thanks Mom…We're about a mile from camp, maybe a little more…Okay, see you soon…Love you…" She handed the phone to Nick.

"Hello?" he huffed. "Mom…Yeah, I'm fine…We're all fine…Yeah, I'll see you soon…Okay…Alright… Okay, I love you, too…Bye." He hung up and handed the phone to Brooke.

We ran for just over six minutes, even though it felt like a lifetime. I could just make out the Half-Blood Hill in the distance through the trees when Brooke slammed on her brakes. We all plowed into her and hit the ground, shouting at Brooke as we scrambled back to our feet. Brooke was oblivious to us. She stared in horror at the ground right in front of us. I looked down and felt like dropping dead right there. I was staring at a footprint, but this wasn't any human footprint, or even a normal monster print.

It was at least a foot wide and almost twice as long. It only had three toe marks, making me think of old dinosaur footprints I'd seen, which really didn't help make me feel better. Whatever had made it obviously had some seriously sharp talons. The toe marks were at least two inches deeper than the rest of the print, which was already about an inch deep in the ground. Alex hadn't been kidding about the prints having a freaky aura around them. I felt like I was staring at something made of pure evil.

"B-Brooke," Nick started, "w-what is that?"

"The same tracks," Alex whispered.

"And what do they belong to?" I asked slowly.

Brooke clambered to her feet, her breath coming out in ragged gasps. Her whole body was visibly trembling.

"We…we have to go, now," she breathe.

She stepped forward and something shiny flashed past her. A long knife was buried in a tree trunk just inches from Brooke's face, still quivering from being thrown. I screamed at the top of the longs, even though Brooke had already beaten me to it. The boys shouted and cursed in Greek. We all stood staring at the knife in terror, breathing hard and too scared to move. After a few seconds, Brooke slowly reached out for the handle, but stopped her hand just over it. A tear fell down her cheek.

"I know this," she said in a soft voice. "It killed her with it."

"Brooke, calm down," Nick said, even though he was still breathing quickly. "What is that?"

A look of realization dawned on Brooke, and absolute hatred and rage replaced the fear in her eyes for a few seconds. "This is what it used to kill Kasey."

Before any of us could react, a deafening roar filled the woods. Birds took to the sky, and every small animal from mice to squirrels ran like its life depended on it. Brooke's anger melted back into fear as she slowly backed away toward the camp. The sound of massive feet pounding into the dirt started, followed by loud snorts and grunts.

"Um, Brooke, run?" Alex squeaked.

The impact of a tree falling rattled my teeth and made my ears ring.

"Run," Brooke answered, "definitely run."

Then she did something I never thought I'd see her do: she turned around, without the intent of retreating or fighting on better ground, without a single weapon in her hand, and ran. Nick followed her in the next second with Alex following. Another bellowing roar sent me after them. I ran faster than I ever had before and actually managed to catch up to them.

"And now you know why I was moving so fast," Brooke gasped, her voice cracking with absolute panic.

"Well I'm sorry that I didn't know!" Nick managed to shout back.

"Idiots!" Alex interrupted. "It doesn't matter know, just run!"

We broke through the woods and tore across the open field between us and the hill as roaring and the sound of falling trees followed us. The base of the hill was only about two hundred yards away, and it was only another hundred or so yards uphill from there. My hopes started rising when we hit the road. We could make it. We could outrun whatever was following us. I probably would've started laughing hysterically if I hadn't been scared to death already.

We were less than ten yards away from the bottom of the hill when a shadow passed over us. Another roar shook the air, and a creature slammed into the ground in front of us. We slid and fell to the ground to avoid running into it. I looked at it and my voice caught in my throat.

Have you ever been so scared that you can't do anything? You can't move, you can't scream, you can't even make a little squeak or cough. You're frozen in whatever position you were caught in and you can't even think long enough to realize that you're about to die. If you haven't, lucky you. If you have, one: that totally sucks, two: multiply that fear five or six times and you might be able to comprehend what it felt like to be in front of this thing.

Standing up, the monster towered over us at about eight or nine feet. Black, ragged wings speckled with tiny rips sprouted out of its back and stretched at least twelve feet across. Its body was a strange mixture of monster and human. Its head resembled a cross between a man's and a dragon's with a long snout and sat on a short neck. Its torso was massive and covered in black and gray scales with thick arms that ended with humanlike hands. Its legs were bulky and scarred, covered with more of the dark scales on its upper body. It even had a tail lying behind it, stretching out for over seven feet and slowly thumping the ground. Vicious fangs tinged with green hung out of its mouth and were covered with what looked like dried blood. Dark green claws stretched into razor sharp points on its hands, matched by a pair of talons on each three-toed foot. Dark spikes ran from the back of its neck to the tip of its tail. Even though they were short, I could just make out the serrated edges of the spikes. A strange mist or shadow seemed to hover around it, starting at the waist, and offered up a view of faint weapon shapes for a few seconds. Glowing molten-red eyes offered up the only real color on the beast, but they weren't much better than black. They were the kind of eyes that you couldn't look away from; the kind that froze you and dug out every horrible emotion and memory you had and made you relive it. I knew without a doubt that this was the servant.

A low growl rumbled deep in its throat, and it actually managed to speak.

"You demigods have brought me pain and torment from Kronos himself," it said in a deep, guttural voice, "pain I intend to have revenge for. You proved to be a decent chase since I began tracking you in California. Kronos wants some of you for himself. The more fortunate souls are mine."

The servant stepped forward and turned its eyes directly to me. It shook its head, almost looking disappointed.

"Traitorous scum," it spat. "You deserve whatever death awaits you for your betrayal. For all you have done, you may as well be a demigod."

Throughout the servant's speech, my mind had come back enough to think a little. Before, I'd thought this thing was just a mindless mercenary enslaved by Kronos to do his dirty work. By now, though, I'd realized a few things. One, this thing actually had a working brain. Two, the servant seemed to actually be kind of smart. Three, it really wanted to kill us.

Pulling a double-bladed battle ax decorated with leather necklaces out of the mist around its waist, the servant swung it over its head and brought it down. Somebody must've recovered enough to move and pushed me out of the way of the ax. I rolled once, feeling the ground vibrate from the impact of the ax, and felt my mind clear up. Having broken eye contact, I jumped to my feet and bolted up the hill, hearing the servant groan as it struggled to pull the ax from the ground. After a few seconds, the servant roared in frustration. I chanced a look back and saw it storming up the hill easily with massive sword. It opened its mouth wide, and I could see a red color building in the back of its throat. It flinched a little and stopped in surprise.

"Come on, ugly!" Brooke screamed, ten feet to my left and downhill a little. She was holding a rock in one hand and a small ball of water in the other. She kept her eyes down to avoid the servant's paralyzing gaze.

"This is your fault," I heard the servant growl as it turned to face Brooke. "You are the root of my misery."

Raising its sword, the monster charged Brooke, but somehow tripped five feet from her. Brooke backpedaled frantically in an attempt to escape the falling beast. She lost her balance and fell, but was back on her feet and moving up the hill in a second. I looked at the servant and found at least three pairs of skeletal hands holding onto one of its feet. The monster kicked the hands away and immediately looked past me to where I assumed Alex was. With a roar, it vaulted into the air and swooped through the sky. I followed its path and my eyes landed on Alex, who was trying to track the beast and still avoid its eyes. The servant dove just as Alex looked down. A string of water whipped up, wrapped around the servant, and pulled it to the ground not even a foot from Alex.

The monster rolled down the hill. I watched as Nick jumped clear of its path and scrambled up the hill. He waved for us to keep going. Alex turned and ran toward me. Seeing that they were making ground while the servant had just managed to get up, I spun and sprinted as fast as I could, only to have my heart drop. We were at least seventy-five yards from the top of the hill. The thick grass that had grown since I had last been here and steep slope only slowed us down. Even Brooke was struggling to get through at a fast enough pace. I saw Brooke glance back and horror filled her face. She whipped around and slammed to a halt. Her hand moved for her dagger and had it spinning end over end down the hill in a blur. An angry roar told me that the knife had hit its mark. Brooke uncapped her sword and stood her ground as I closed in on her. I could hear the boys pounding up the hill behind me.

"Keep moving!" Brooke shouted when I started slowing down next to her.

"But-."

"No, Krys! No buts. This is my quest, and I will do everything to protect my quest members. Now move! Get help!" She shoved me up the hill.

"Move Nick!" I heard her scream. "I don't care! I want you both out of here." I looked back to see Nick and Alex stumbling past Brooke. The servant was only about thirty yards from her, and we still had another forty yards or so to climb.

I closed my eyes as I ran and desperately tried to focus my energy, putting all the energy I had left into attempting to slow down the servant and not freeze anyone else.

"Krystol!" Brooke screamed, which brought a small relief to me that I must've made her mad by toying with the servant.

I kept it up for as long as I could and hoped that Brooke wouldn't be too brave to not back up the hill and give herself more space. Finally, I had to open my eyes. I found myself only fifteen feet or so from the pine tree. Finding energy somewhere, I forced myself to go for ten more feet until I stumbled and fell. I couldn't even get up anymore, so I just dragged myself over the boundary line. I rolled onto my back and started letting out squeaky gasps mixed with joy and the desperate need for air. I sat up, still breathing hard, and tried to find the others in the mess that was Half-Blood Hill.

Huge swathes of grass had gone up in flames, which left me thinking that the servant was apparently capable of breathing fire. Other areas had been swept free of grass and had newly exposed soil, probably from the amount of water pressure being used and the servant's falls. Some parts had been torn up and were covered in holes and bones. Finally, I started seeing shapes through the mess. Nick came up first, coughing and smelling like smoke, but alive. Since I still didn't have much energy, I just called out to him. I swiveled around so I was laying downhill and grabbed his hand when he got close enough. Nick crawled across the boundary and collapsed in a coughing heap.

"Where's Alex and Brooke?" he choked out.

I glanced down the hill. I could barely make out Alex's small form crouched over on the ground. He was only twenty feet away, but he was facing Brooke and the servant. Ten feet farther down the hill, Brooke was slowly backing up. The servant was less than ten feet from her, but he was fighting his way through a field of skeletal limbs rising out of the ground. Brooke had her dagger back in her hand, giving her a better chance of survival with both of her weapons. When Brooke got within five feet of him, Alex turned and half-ran, half-crawled up the rest of the hill.

Then, everything went wrong. Just ten feet from safety, Brooke slipped and fell flat on her back. Nick sat straight up when he heard her scream. Alex whipped around and stopped just short of the boundary. The servant brought his sword down. Brooke managed to throw her sword up, blocked the blow, and used the contact of the weapons to push herself to the side. Alex tried to get up and help, but could only put up a little struggle. The servant actually cackled as he closed in on Brooke. The monster waved a hand. A window-like thing appeared in the air, almost like an Iris-message, and showed what looked like a throne room.

"Time to meet grandpa, Brooky," the servant mocked, slashing down at her again.

Nick was at my side in the next instant with a wild look in his eyes and a face that said he still had a desperate plan left.

"Take this," he said, pressing his invisibility cap into my hand. "Listen to me. I think I know what that thing is. Don't let them follow me."

"What?" I asked, completely lost.

"Just listen," he said, talking quickly. "You can't let them follow me, okay? Swear, Krystol, on the Styx. You can't let them follow me." He looked so desperate and upset that I swore without even knowing what I was swearing to. He nodded approvingly. The battle between Brooke and the servant rang in the background. I could see Alex slowly moving to his feet.

"One more thing," he said, not missing a beat. "Whatever happens, don't let them blame you. Don't let anyone blame you or them. Don't let them blame themselves. It's not anyone's fault. This is my choice, okay? Whatever happens isn't your fault. It's not Brooke's, not Alex's, not my parents', or any adults', or anybody's fault. I'm doing this on my own. This is my choice, okay? Please, promise me." I promised again.

He dropped his eyes, and I saw tears streaming down his dirty cheeks. I still didn't know what had just happened, but for some reason, my heart broke in that instant. Nick reached up and tore his necklace from his neck. He took one last look at it before folding my hand around it.

"For Brooke," he whispered. "Tell her not to worry. I won't be another one of his trophies." He stood with the most defiant look I had ever seen and stared straight at the servant.

"What are you doing?" I asked in one last attempt to figure things out.

"Saving my sister," he answered.

Finding strength somewhere, Nick bolted toward the servant. Brooke was on the ground and clearly exhausted, covering a bleeding wound on her hip and clinging to her dagger. The servant moved to grab her when Nick plowed into him without a single weapon. Nick and the servant tumbled a few feet down the hill with the weird window following. The servant got up and darted for Brooke again. Nick was ready. He pulled water from the air and hurled himself ahead of the servant. Just a foot from his sister, Nick slashed at the monster's side, actually managing to make contact, and launched a fast kick right into its stomach. The servant stumbled backward, losing his balance on the downhill. I saw Nick eye the window, which had slowly been closing throughout the whole fight. It was only a few feet away and directly behind the servant. With a ferocious gleam in his eyes, Nick raced forward, sword raised. The servant brought up its sword and snarled. At the last second, Nick dropped his sword and ducked under the servant's sweeping blade. He caught the monster by the arm, and everything seemed to melt into slow motion. No, I don't mean the kind when I mess with time. I mean the actual one where you can literally see every single movement dragged out into a lifetime. I watched as Nick spun, using the servant's lack of balance and the sloping hill to whip the monster around. I heard Brooke's scream slowly building. I could see Alex's face switching from his struggle to surprise to absolute panic as he tried to move after Nick. The servant spun with Nick, trying to shake him off. Nick kept his hold as he swung toward the window. Nick's words rang in my ears. _You can't let them follow me, okay? This is my choice, okay?_ I managed to push myself up, somehow knowing what was coming, and moved toward Brooke. Nick, still managing to hold the servant, fell into the shrinking window, dragging the servant with him. Brooke's scream finally broke through as she launched herself at the disappearing window. I tackled her to the ground and pinned her down. I caught Alex up and moving out of the corner of my eye and waved my hand, watching him freeze. Both of them were screaming. The window was closing. None of us could make it in time. I almost let go and tried to dive into the window myself, but Nick's words, my oath, were still ringing in my ears. I tightened my hold on both of them as the window shrank to the size of a postage stamp, crackled with energy, and went up in an explosion that rocked the hill.

The sound that followed could've broken the heart of even the cruelest person alive. Brooke let out the most heart-wrenching cry I'd ever heard before. In an instant, she had rivers running down her face. Her wailing grew louder with each second. I felt tears spill over on my own face. I saw Alex staring in shock at where the window had just been, having not figured out how to react. Brooke's pitiful cries had turned into rage-filled shrieks as she writhed beneath me. Finally, she shoved me off of her. I rolled to me feet. Brooke was already on hers with a look of pure hatred I had never seen on her face before.

I held up my hands. "Brooke-." I tried to calm her down, but she was beyond speaking. She cut me off with slash of her dagger. I screamed, feeling the wicked sharp metal cut into my cheek. I dropped to the ground on impulse.

"This is your fault," Brooke screamed shrilly. Tears were still pouring down her face and her voice was hoarse. The fiery light died in her eyes and was replaced with an overwhelming sadness that no twelve-year-old should have known about.

She raised her dagger above her head and brought it down within an inch of my arm. I screamed and rolled anyway, jumping up and darting behind the pine tree. Poking my head out, I watched Brooke crash to the ground in a sobbing heap. Her hair fell across her face, hiding her tears and shielding her from the world. A fresh wave of tears stemmed the rivers on my cheeks as I finally saw it. The girl in my one dream in California, Brooke sobbing on the hill, it was all the same: the dirty, torn, burned clothes; the scratches and bruises all over her arms; the hair covering her face; the shaking body; the sobbing on the hill. I'd watched this all before. I'd seen how it would play out, and I still couldn't stop it.

I stared out at the burning hill, watching the smoke rise into the bright blue sky. I could hear shouting coming from the other side of the hill, but it didn't matter. It couldn't change anything. Brooke was sobbing in the grass. Alex was on his knees in shock, tears just starting to flow down his face. Nick was gone.

Nick. He'd said none of this would be my fault, and that it was his choice. But he was wrong. His sister was falling apart, his cousin couldn't even react, his parents would be destroyed, and it was all because I'd let him go.

All I could was lean against the tree, watch the field burn, and watch my friends break down. Nick was gone. It was my fault.

**And that's the end of the chapter. Hopefully that filled you guys up on enough action for a little while. I know parts of it were a bit emotional and probably even sappy, but all good stories need a bit of drama, right? Anyway, we're almost done now. Maybe you'll review this chapter, maybe not. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. Alright, peace out people.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: (No chapter name this time, guys. Why? Because I couldn't think of anything that seemed to fit when I finished this...and, honestly, I didn't really feel like waiting until an idea hit me...)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO.**

I can't really remember what happened after the fight. Everything moved in a blur and seemed distant. I know some of the adults found us. The next thing I knew, I was in the Big House and wrapped up in a blanket. Someone kept asking me questions, Chiron I think, but I just stared at the floor, not processing his words. A cup of nectar was handed to me at some point. I drank the liquid mechanically, not registering what it was meant for or even its taste that I used to love.

Eventually, I got moved to the infirmary. I didn't understand it at first. I wasn't hurt badly. Maybe I had lost my senses and couldn't function well enough anymore. It certainly felt like that. I think Brooke and Alex were there, too, but everything still moved in a daze for me. People came and went, some asking questions, others just checking on me. A few voices actually managed to penetrate the walls my mind had thrown up- Julius's, Annabeth's, Rachel's (surprisingly), even Caleb's- but I hardly talked back. I think I apologized to Annabeth. I might've mumbled a few things to Caleb, but I couldn't remember. Hours passed in that place that I couldn't account for. After two days, I was allowed to leave the infirmary and go back to the mix-blood cabin.

I walked around the camp like a zombie for another two days, still living in shock. Finally, my mind managed to drift back to reality, but that was almost as bad as being in loopy land. Now I could actually take in what was going on. Everyone in camp, no matter what age, cabin, or experience level seemed to be moving like they were at a funeral. The camp was mostly quiet constantly. It was like the joy and will to do anything had been drained from everybody. It wasn't the happy camp that I'd left, even if that happy camp had been full of kids who hated me. It wasn't right. The looks I got were some of the worst. They weren't filled with anger or hatred or fear anymore, at least not most of the time anyway. Now they were full of sorrow and grief, and most looks I personally got were full of pity. Everyone who talked to me spoke in low voices, like I was some little china dish that would crack if they spoke too loudly. Their words that were meant for comfort only brought back the memories of the fight on the hill and made things worse. I had nightmares that constantly repeated the battle in my head. After three days of dealing with the camp, I couldn't take it anymore.

I started slipping away from my training sessions more often, but the adults never said anything about it. I spent most of my free time away from the other campers. After a few days of slipping away between training, I just gave up trying to get back into the camp. I left after breakfast most days as everybody headed down to their classes. Without armor and alone, I would walk right into the woods. I usually ended up in that clearing where Brooke and I had fought the scorpion. Sometimes I drilled myself on my swordplay, fighting against imaginary enemies. Other times, I would find a target in the field and practice throwing my discus at it from different distances and angles and worked on throwing while jumping, running, or crawling. Usually, I just sat on the rock pile in the middle of the field and lost myself in my thoughts.

That was pretty much how I spent the last month of camp. Sometimes I'd carry on a full conversation with some of the mix-bloods at dinner, in the cabin, or at the few campfires I went to. Every now and then, I'd see Brooke or Alex wandering aimlessly through the camp, but they usually stayed in the cabin or went off hiding somewhere. We didn't talk much with each other.

On the last full day of camp, I found myself sitting on the rock pile in the clearing, alone. A light breeze blew through the trees and played with my hair. Wildflowers had sprouted in the field, and the marks of the old battle here had faded a little more. I could hear nymphs playing in the forest just beyond my sight. The sky was lit up with a rainbow of colors as the sun set. Part of me knew that it was time to go back. Otherwise, I could end up as dinner for whatever creatures were in the woods this time. Another part of me wanted to stay here forever. It was so peaceful and pretty. It was nothing like the battle-filled world I'd just experienced. It was nothing like the cruel mortal world I would have to face if I chose to go home. It was like paradise.

"Hey, Krys," someone greeted quietly.

I glanced down and found Caleb standing at the bottom of the rocks in front of me.

"Hey," I sighed. I looked back up and stared at the setting sun.

"You know," Caleb started after a minute, "you should come in before it gets dark. It's not a good idea to spend the night in these woods. Well, that is unless you want to be on the forest's dessert menu tonight."

"Why the dessert menu?" I decided to just play along and act happy. After all, he was just trying to be nice.

"Because all of the sweet things go on the dessert menu." He smiled at me, and with a real smile, too. Then the smile disappeared, his face turned the color of a tomato, and he dropped his eyes. I actually had to suppress a small grin on that one.

"Is this your version of trying to make me happy?"

"Uh, that depends. Is it working?"

I shrugged at him "Maybe."

He smiled a little again. "Then maybe it is."

I rolled my eyes and looked back to the sky.

"You really should come down," Caleb continued, his voice losing the little hints of happiness it'd had just moments ago. "The last summer fire is tonight. Everybody's getting their beads. I think you might really like this one." I sighed and closed my eyes. "At least come down just to hang out. Please, Krys."

I looked down at him. His brown eyes were big and pleaded with me. Giving in, I started sliding down the rocks.

"You got it?" Caleb asked, holding his arms up to help me.

"Yeah, I think so," I answered, glancing at him.

Of course, my foot slipped right then and I lost my grip. Squeaking, I fell forward, right into Caleb. He caught me, letting out a surprised yelp, and wrapped his arms around me. Caleb stumbled and my arms locked around his neck. Balancing himself out, Caleb looked at me and grinned.

"Yeah, you've definitely got it," he teased.

I opened my mouth to say something, but froze up when I looked into his chocolate-brown eyes. It felt like an eternity before I managed to break eye contact and pulled away from him quickly.

"Let's go," I said shortly, gluing my eyes to the ground and walking away from him. I heard him let out a faint sigh before he started following me.

Caleb and I took our seats in the amphitheater just as kids were starting to be called up to get their beads. The firelight hid their faces, so I couldn't tell what their reactions to the bead were. Finally, they started calling up the mix-bloods. I found myself actually getting excited about what would be on the bead this summer. Brooke came back to our area with the bead first. I was about to ask her if I could see it, but the look on her face stole my voice. She was completely stunned, and tears were rolling down her face for the first time since we'd come back. One by one, the mix-bloods came back with a bead, each with an expression similar to Brooke's.

My name was announced last. I walked up to the fire where the beads were being handed out. I took mine and a new leather necklace. As I walked back to my seat, I finally understood why this little bead was affecting my friends so much. Etched into the black bead was a gray owl in midflight carrying a green trident in its talons.

"This bead," someone started explaining, "serves two purposes. The first, it is meant to commemorate the quest undertaken by Brooke Jackson, granddaughter to Lord Poseidon and Lady Athena, and her team to save our sister camp. Well done, campers. The second purpose, and perhaps the more important one, is for our own remembrance. It is meant to make certain that none here will ever forget the sacrifice made by Nick Jackson to stop the servant, to keep it from entering our camp and killing an Aphrodite child, and to protect his fellow quest members."

A low, hollow-sounding clapping rose from the campers. Even though I couldn't really see them, I knew people were crying, including the entire mix-blood cabin. It was like the realization of what Nick had done, and of what had happened to him, was finally hitting everyone.

Walking back to the cabin, I found that the camp had been lit with countless torches, like some kind of ritual or ceremony. Kids all around me were crying now, nobody bothering to keep their sobs quiet. My mind flashed back to the last dream I'd had in California, the one of my camp brightly lit and mourning. In that instant, I knew it was all over. I was certain the quest was done this time. It didn't make a difference though, finally being free of that burden. Nothing could ever make a difference in how that quest had ended.

Morning came quickly. The camp ate its last breakfast together before everyone left to start cleaning up the cabins and packing.

I worked quietly in the mix-blood cabin. I pulled the few clothes I had left out of the trunk: four tee-shirts, three pairs of jeans, a couple of pairs of socks. They all got tossed sloppily into the suitcase Mom had sent me. I tossed my hairbrush, bathroom stuff, and dream journal on top of the clothes. The pile barely even filled two-thirds of the suitcase now. I stacked my armor and Nick's invisibility hat in the trunk and locked it. Finished with my packing, I sat on top of the trunk and watched the others pack up.

Slowly, everyone left the cabin with backpacks and suitcases. I glanced at Brooke and Alex's beds. The sheets were still a mess and they hadn't packed up yet. I actually hadn't seen them since breakfast. I guess it didn't matter if they packed or not. I'd heard rumors that they were staying longer anyway.

My eyes fell on Nick's bed. The bed looked as good as when we'd first set off on our quest. A pair of sneakers sat on top of his trunk, along with a handheld game system. Pictures were still tacked to the wall beside the bed. I wondered if all of it would be left, or if the cleaning harpies would just toss it into the lava pit.

I shook my head. I didn't need to think like that. I couldn't, or the thoughts would drive me insane. Then another thought came to me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out Nick's leather necklace. I stared at it for a moment before tightening my hand around it. I opened my suitcase and ripped a piece of paper out of the journal. I quickly wrote down everything that Nick had said to me on that hill and folded the paper in half. I walked to Brooke's bed and laid the note on it. I looked at the necklace one last time before laying it on top of the paper. On impulse, I threw open my trunk and pulled out the invisibility hat. I grabbed my suitcase and walked out of the cabin.

I started walking for the hill, no exactly sure how I was going to get home. It was almost four, and most of the campers that were going home had left at this point. Maybe I'd get lucky and somebody with a cellphone would be on the hill.

Halfway across camp, Rachel started walking with me. I raised my eyebrow in curiosity, but didn't say anything.

"How are you?" she asked after a few minutes.

_Well,_ I thought, _one of my friends was just kidnapped and is probably dead. His sister and cousin probably hate me. Oh, and I feel like a complete failure._

"Fine," I said, shrugging at her. She sighed and rolled her eyes as a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"You know, you really shouldn't lie to the Oracle. It just doesn't work well."

"Well then, all powerful one, you should know exactly how I'm feeling."

"I think I can guess pretty well at it. But I didn't come here to guess at your feelings. The last line of the prophecy, do you understand it?"

I wanted so badly to just snap at her, but she'd caught me off guard. As easily as I'd accepted the end of the quest, I still didn't really understand it. We were supposed to fail because the servant would make another hit, but it hadn't killed an Aphrodite child.

"I'm guessing by your silence that you don't really get it," Rachel said.

"Of course I don't get it!" I shouted, stopping at the bottom of the hill. "We were supposed to fail. The servant was supposed to make a kill."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! 'Fail as the servant strikes once more.' That's fairly self-explanatory."

"Apparently not. Prophecies often have double meanings, or at least turn out differently than expected. This is a perfect example." She turned away from me and started walking up the hill. I moved after her, interested in what she was saying. "Everyone thought that you'd all fail when an Aphrodite child was killed, but that's not necessarily true. For one, there is more than just death that can amount to a failure. Two, the line said the servant would 'strike', but it never said kill. Strike could simply mean attack in this sense, which is what happened."

"What about the failing part?"

"Ah, yes, that part. Try looking at the prophecy through Brooke's eyes. Failing to her could possibly mean letting down her family and friends somehow, as I'm sure you can guess by her protectiveness. In her eyes, and her view is all that matters as this was her quest, when Nick was taken by the servant, she had failed to protect him. The whole prophecy all comes down one simple meaning without riddles: Brooke and her quest members shall go to California; they will fight the monsters in our western camp; the half-bloods will win like they did in the last war; and you will fail to protect your friend from an attack by the servant. It's that simple."

I wanted to argue so badly. It couldn't just be that simple. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Rachel was right. I didn't like it, but it fit so perfectly.

"So what now?" I asked, still trudging up the hill. "That's it? Nick's just gone?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, that's what it basically boils down to. And given how everybody's acting, it's like they're already counting him among the dead. Then again, he may as well be dead at this point."

"Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"There is so much you don't understand, Krystol. There are so many more moments left to be played out, so much more you have to endure. I can't tell you much, but I can tell you not to give up."

"Don't give up on what? It's been at least a month since Nick was taken. He can't possibly be alive still, not if he's with that monster."

Rachel stopped at the top of the hill and stared out over the valley of Camp Half-Blood.

"Would you look for him?" she asked me suddenly.

"What?"

"Nick. If there was a chance that he was still alive, would you look for him?"

"Of course I would! But-."

Rachel held up her hand. "No buts, Krystol. I know you'd look for him, and that you still hope for him to be alive, right?"

"Yes."

Rachel nodded approvingly. She closed her eyes and started to sway. "You seek the child of wisdom and the seas, do you not?"

"Um…uh…I…y-yeah."

Rachel's eyes opened, but they were now a strange, glowing green color.

"You seek the boy?" she said in a raspy voice. I gulped and nodded. She swayed again and strange, green fog poured from her mouth.

"_Owl of the sea, whom you seek  
Found only by one, the shy and meek  
To end the child's chosen plight  
Seek the child of fire and light." _

Rachel's eyes faded back to normal and she swayed on her feet. I grabbed her arm to help steady her.

She looked at me and asked, "What did I just say?"

I repeated the words back to her, not exactly sure of what had just happened. Rachel was quiet and still for a while as she thought the words over.

"So, is that supposed to be a prophecy or something?" I asked timidly.

"I honestly don't know," Rachel said. "My prophecies are usually ominous, hard to decipher, and generally creepy. This one isn't like that."

"Uh, are you sure about that? That seemed pretty hard to figure out to me, and definitely creepy."

"No, this one's different. It seems more like flat out directions for you."

"To do what exactly?"

"Ugh, Krystol, think. I asked you…okay, the Oracle asked you if you were looking for the 'child of wisdom and the seas'. Since we know where Brooke is, that can only mean Nick, and you said yes. Therefore, you basically told the Oracle that you were looking for Nick. So, the Oracle gave you, um, let's just say directions to find him."

"I didn't ask for that!"

"Uh, you basically did. Hey, do you need a ride home?"

"Don't change the subject on me! Take it back! I don't want this prophecy! I just want to forget this summer."

"It's too late, Krystol. It's your prophecy now. Now, back to that ride question…"

I wanted to keep screaming. This wasn't fair. I hadn't asked for this. Besides, knowing my luck, I'd just make things worse. I mean, don't get wrong or anything, I wanted to believe Nick was alive. I would've given anything to change what had happened. But it was impossible. Nick couldn't have survived as a prisoner to the servant. Too many monsters wanted him dead for him to be alive in their hands. But I could tell I wouldn't get anywhere fighting with Rachel. Finally, I dropped my eyes and nodded 'yes' to the ride.

Rachel pulled out a cell phone and called somebody. Twenty minutes later, a sleek limousine rolled down the road and stopped at the base of the hill. My jaw probably would've fallen straight through the ground and all the way to China if it hadn't been attached to me. Rachel smiled and led me to the limo.

Rachel's limo dropped me off in front of my apartment building.

"I'll be seeing you around, Krystol," Rachel smiled at me.

"Wait, I still don't get the prophecy. Help me with it," I pleaded.

"I'm sure you're fully capable of dealing with this one on your own."

"But I don't understand it. Who's the light or fire kid? How do they mean anything in this mess?"

Rachel chuckled at me little. "You'll do fine, Krystol. If it's been spoken, it's bound to happen."

"When?"

"I'm sure you'll know when. Oh, this is for you." Rachel handed me a folded piece of paper. "For memory's sake. You'll be fine. Just watch out for monsters, okay?"

"But-."

"You'll be fine. I promise you that. And I'll be watching, too. I might actually be able to help you, and I'm interested to see how this will turn out." She smiled at me one more time before rolling up her window. The limo swung into traffic and took off down the street.

Sighing, I shoved the paper into my pocket and walked into the apartment building. Of course, the elevator was broken again, so I had to climb the six flights of stairs up to my apartment. Once I got to my door, I froze. What would it be like now, between Mom and I? How had she handled my going to camp? How would she react when I told her about this last summer? I sighed and threw all of the thoughts out of my head. I'd just deal with things one at a time.

I walked in to find the apartment spotless. My head dropped at the thought of how bad Mom might have taken the news. See, among a few other things, my mom cleans when she's worried. Given how clean the place was, I was thinking my mom had been on the verge of having a panic attack at some point. I closed the door behind me and moved farther into the living room.

My mom rushed into the room from the kitchen with a broom in her hands.

"What, did you plan on sweeping any intruders to death?" I asked.

My mom dropped the broom and practically flew across the room. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. I felt tears falling down my cheek as I hugged her back, never wanting to let go.

I spent an hour or so with my mom. She made my favorite dinner and whipped up her peanut butter-chocolate shakes that I loved. Even if it was the drink of the gods, I had to admit that the nectar was nowhere near as good as my mom's shakes. After dinner, Mom tried to get me to talk about camp. I wasn't ready for that yet. If I brought up camp, I'd have to bring up the quest. There were so many things on that trip that would haunt me for months, maybe years. And I couldn't talk about what had happened to Nick. I wouldn't be able to handle dealing with that. Instead, I acted like I was really tired. Mom looked skeptical, but she let me go to my room anyway.

I sat in my room, staring at the walls and everything else for another hour. I rooted through the school supplies Mom had laid on my bed for the coming school year. Finally, I decide that I really was tired. I changed into my pajamas and moved for my bed. Then I remembered the paper Rachel had given me. I dug it out of my pocket and unfolded it, only to be met with hopelessness. Rachel had copied down the prophecy she'd given me, in Greek nonetheless. I looked at the bottom of the paper and saw a drawing of what looked like a sun, except, instead of being surrounded by squiggly sunbeams, it was ringed with flames. I shook my head. It would take a miracle for that prophecy to come true. I crumpled the paper up and tossed it into my little trashcan. Turning off the light, I climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up to my chin.

My dream vision cleared itself and brought a long, dark hallway into view. Low-burning torches barely lit the hallway. I felt myself moving forward and I turned at the end of the hall into another that matched it perfectly. My dream self kept walking, turning every now and then into new hallways. In no time, I was absolutely lost. I couldn't figure out where the weird maze was, or if it was part of a history dream. Once in a while, I would walk past monsters, but they apparently couldn't sense my dream form. Eventually, I came into a chamber. It was completely empty, which only emphasized its enormous size. The chamber had to have been at least a fifty foot square. A faint clinking noise echoed in the chamber. I glanced over to a corner and found that the chamber wasn't completely empty. A small form was pressed into the corner. My dream self moved toward the form. The closer I got, the more details I could pick out. It looked human. Yes, it was definitely a human. Shackles were attached to their ankles and chained to the wall. They looked young, like a child. They had light hair and pale skin. Their clothes, though torn and nothing more than rags, looked modern. My dream self lowered itself so that I became level with the person. The child looked like a boy, even though their hair was a little long. Suddenly, the child flinched. I felt myself reach out for the kid. I almost touched him just as he jerked his head up.

I sat bolt upright in my bed, gasping for air. Sweat was pouring down my face and I was shivering. I was in too much shock to do anything though. Even though I had only caught a glimpse of the boy's face, I knew exactly who it was. I could never forget those green eyes.

"Nick," I gasped.

**Alright, that's the end, guys. This was the last chapter in a very long story that drove me nuts at times. I really hope you liked this story. Thanks to everyone who made it here. Thanks for the reviews and always reading this for me. I had fun with this. Now, if anyone is curious, I am planning on a sequel (is it a bit obvious?). I really hope everyone who made it this far keeps reading my stuff. If not, well, at least you got this far. So, that's about it. Thanks again, and if anyone wants to, please review. See ya next time around.**


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